


Kepler Ronpa

by Little Keplerette (classycloudcuckoolanderclasso)



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fan Dangan Ronpa, Fangan Ronpa, Gen, Multi, so this is my first story, yo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-01-03 08:49:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 118,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1068497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/classycloudcuckoolanderclasso/pseuds/Little%20Keplerette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marc Christopher Alelis never dreamed that he'd end up being accepted - through a lottery, no less! - into the most prestigious school in the country. Actually, the only thing that made it special was that it was the sister school to the most prestigious school in Japan, Hope's Peak Academy. He thought everything would be normal; surrounded by top-notch schoolmates while going through a regular high school life.</p><p>When he wakes up in an empty classroom, however, and wanders his way into the place where the orientation would occur, surrounded by thirty six other students, it hits him that no, nothing was going to be normal ever again. And what's with that psychotic two-toned cat calling themselves their principal?!</p><p>[currently on hiatus]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Child of Luck, Marc Alelis

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Any real places mentioned are not to be taken against the real establishment and if you do so then that is incredibly silly since this is a fanfiction with no real standing. The names of the characters here are fictional, and if they have accidentally matched up perfectly with someone in real life, that is purely coincidental. If it will reassure you, the personalities of the characters here are most likely NOT similar to the person whose name they might share (seeing as that they're all twisted characters), so no need to worry. Probably.
> 
> (( I had to add this because a few people have talked to me about intellectual property rights without understanding the concept of fanfiction, so here it is, friends. ))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our protagonist is introduced, and the school, described.

**[00 – PROLOGUE: WELCOME TO DESPAIR SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL]**

Axiom Science High School…

It was like… the whole world revolved around that special school.

It wasn’t the only science high school in the Philippines, yeah, but it was the first; it began the line of prestigious schools known as the Science High Schools. And as such, it’s terrifyingly difficult to get into this school.

There are only two requirements to get into this school.

One, you had to be a high school student. You had to be at least a freshman to get in. And two, you had to be at the top of your field. By field, they mean your area of expertise.

Hmm… how do I explain this… ah, yes!

I did my research on the students of this school prior to entering by joining one of the more popular forums discussing all of them, and clearly, they were the best people in their fields – hence the title, Super High School Level; they were literally Super Level High School Students. They were known for their amazing talents that surpassed those of the normal high school students, and as such, Axiom Science wanted to cultivate their skills further for the good of the country. It’s not a bad idea, actually, but it kind of makes us other students feel left out, you know? Not that I’m saying us normal students can’t contribute, but… yeah.

Take the **Super High School Level Therapist** , for example. Her skills in understanding the human psyche and allowing the others to slowly let go of their problems are monumental to the country’s economy. The **Super High School Level Friend** , on the other hand, has the amazing ability to make everyone like her. People who don’t end up liking her are thought of as freaks of nature, because as the SHSL Friend, she’s friends with everybody, and is pretty much the nicest person around. I’ve yet to hear about someone who’s refused her friendship so far, though.

It’s not you who asks to enroll in the school. It’s the school that scouts for you. And since most of the students there were Super High School Level students, well… it was no wonder the school managed to find them. They were like the shiny goldfish swimming amongst the dull and bland gobies, calling attention to themselves.

And so, looking at the front gate of that super amazing academy…

… I stood, alone and in awe.

I suppose I should introduce myself, huh? My name’s **Marc Alelis**.

 

As you can see, I’m your average high school student (well, as average as I can get, really). I’m not really too much out of the ordinary, in all actuality; if you took a look at my school records, and got to know me better, you’d also say that I’m the most orthodox boy ever. I’m not really good at sports, and my interests are pretty much part of the norm. I’m part of the ‘school’ of normal fish, as they would say. Though, if I really had to name something out of the ordinary for me, I’d say my extraordinary optimism is tremendously different from most people’s optimism.

But leaving that behind, you’re probably asking yourself this: ‘Why was a normal high school student like me chosen to be among such magnificent "super high-school level" members?’ Well, you see, the reason for that is explained in the acceptance letter that arrived from the same school I was talking about.

**“This year, we at Axiom Science High School have decided to allow one student entry by a lottery draw with all the names of each and every one of the country’s regular high school students. You, Mister Alelis, have been chosen this year as our lucky student, and we invite you into Axiom Science High School as the Super High School Level Good Luck student.”**

Well, in other words, they’re just calling me really lucky.

I should’ve refused right then and there, and given the position to some other lucky student. But my parents were so excited; they made me enroll there immediately. I couldn’t blame them though; getting into that school basically meant success in all your future endeavors, mainly because your classmates were very influential people most of the time.

But… still, even now, as I stood in front of the school’s gates, I felt terrified. I should’ve resisted.

“I shouldn’t really stay here though…” I muttered, glancing at the pamphlet they gave me. 8 o’clock was the set time for the orientation of this year’s incoming students, which meant… I was at least 50 minutes early. Oh bother.

With a groan, I slapped my forehead in exasperation. Of course I was early; I’d been too nervous and hurried myself too much. “Great job, Marc; first day of classes and already you’re a huge GC.” I grumbled, shoving my hands into my pockets. Guess I’d just walk around the grounds until then, to calm my nerves. It really was nerve-wracking to be there; what if my classmates shunned me for being the SHSL Good Luck? What if they stayed away from me because I didn’t have any talent, but I was still there?

“Deep breaths, Alelis.” I breathed in, and out. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe there was a SHSL Equalist there to help out… and besides, there was always the SHSL Friend. With that thought in mind, I put on a smile, and stepped into the gates, my heart filling with the hope and excitement that always accompanies you when you go to a new school…

… Something went wrong, however.

When I took my first step, a wave of dizziness passed over me, followed by a wave of nausea. My vision blurred, and the world looked like it was inside multicolored jelly. Soon, I blacked out.

I should’ve realized by then that it wasn’t Super High School Level Good Luck that brought me to Axiom Science High School.

It was actually Super High School Level **Bad** Luck.

 


	2. Welcome to Despair Science High School - Who Is Monocat?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our hero's friends are shown, and a principal, introduced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The introduction pictures will come later, hopefully, when I have the time. I only have a few introduction pictures prepared (current count: 2 -_-) so please bear with me; they're only for visualization purposes, anyway. For now, have the chapters.

…

…

… Huh…?

When I came to, I found myself in a classroom, sleeping on a hard desk. My whole body felt weighed down, as if I fell from a mountain with 5000kg weights. I’m probably exaggerating, but who could blame me? I winced as I stood up, looking around. God, my body ached everywhere.

“What’s… going on?”

When I examined the room, I found a clock near the top of the blackboard, and some sort of security camera near the blackboard. Huh. Must be CCTV or something. Can’t be too careful nowadays, right? And to top it all off, what I thought were iron covers on display were actually… boarded up windows?! What the heck was going on over here? Where was I?

Walking over to the windows, I attempted to pull one off, only to yelp when my fingers nearly bent back from the effort. Talk about heavy duty blocking systems; was there something terrible outside and they were blocking it from getting in? Or… were they attempting to trap me in here? Either way, they were both bad thoughts, and I discarded them, glancing at the clock. Just past 8, huh… wait… what?!

“Just past eight?!” How long had I been sleeping?! I looked at the table I had just been sleeping on, and… wait, was that a pamphlet? It didn’t look like my pamphlet however, which I had already looked over at least ten times, so I picked it up tentatively, reading the hastily scribbled instructions.

**“A new semester has started! A revolutionary new world awaits you bastards inside these school walls!”**

“You bastards?” I couldn’t help but snicker. It was really ironic that a school referred to the students as bastards. At least, I hope it was really a school. Maybe it was Axiom Science High School? It certainly didn’t seem so; for one, there was  _air conditioning_  in the room I was in.

But then… if it really was Axiom Science, then how did I get inside the classroom? Did I faint from excitement or something? Did I sleepwalk, or did someone bring me here? Either way, I could contemplate about this later; I was late for orientation.

“I should go to Barotilla Hall for now…” I told myself quietly, rereading the hastily scribbled pamphlet’s directions. According to the tiny map, it was on the third floor of the building I was currently in, so I exited the room, looking around as I did.

The windows here were covered up too… what a time to be alive. There was air conditioning here too, but it was relatively higher than the room I was just in, so I didn’t freeze to death. How considerate. The halls were relatively patchwork, with some walls in yellow, and others in blue. They were pretty much partitioned evenly, so it didn’t look weird, but regardless…

I stopped. Just ahead was Barotilla Hall… and my new classmates or batch mates. Would they accept me as one of them? Hopefully.

With a deep breath, I pushed on forward, and opened the door to the hall. And, just like I had expected…

…  _They_  were waiting there.

Thirty six faces turned towards me, watching as I slowly entered, closing the door behind me. Gulping, I ventured, “U-um, e-excuse me…”

“Are you a freshman here too?” A well-dressed boy asked from the side, crossing his arms and smiling at me. “You sure look like it!”

On the other side of the room, a slightly tanned girl holding a camera replied, “Yo, wake up there, lazy bones! You okay?”

“Y-yeah…” Oh god… oh god oh god oh god… I am so sorry God, but you can’t really blame me for my nervousness, right?

A girl with flaming red-orange hair near the guy with the fancy clothes flashed me a thumbs up and a wide grin. “Awesome! That makes thirty seven of us, then! Are we all here, then?”

“Probably!” To her left was… oh, I recognized her face. She was the SHSL Friend; who wouldn’t recognize her? “We can finally begin introductions!”

Introductions?

I must’ve looked confused or bewildered, because the SHSL Friend giggled. “We can discuss the school later! For now, we all have to be acquainted with each other, you know?”

“She’s right!” I looked around, confused as to where the voice came from, only to blink rapidly as it piped up, “Over here, dummy.” I looked lower, and saw… was that a little girl? What was she doing in a high school?

The tallest boy in the room clapped his hands together. “All right, guys, assemble in a large circle. We will begin introductions immediately, so hurry!”

The students all scrambled around, finding a spot to sit on the floor, while I looked around, bewildered, before sitting down next to a girl with long bangs somewhat hiding her eyes from me. I could feel her gaze piercing through me, and I shivered unintentionally as the tall boy asked, “Alright, who’ll go first?”

“Ooh, ooh, me!” The SHSL Friend waved her hand frantically from her place on my left, and the boy gestured to her, saying, “We’ll go clockwise, starting from her.”

She smiled, and stood up, smiling widely at each and every one of us. The atmosphere lightened considerably. “Hi, I’m Andriella Pardilla, but everyone calls me Aiel! Nice to meet you all!”

**AIEL PARDILLA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL FRIEND**

 

The SHSL Friend… I’ve already explained her talent, right? With a nod to the boy sitting next to her, she sat down and began chatting animatedly to the girl on my right, who only nodded and shook her head at each question she shot at her.

“My name’s Dave Anatalio. Super High School Level Secret Agent, at your service.” Oh.  _Oh._  Wow.

**DAVE ANATALIO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SECRET AGENT**

So  _he_  was one of the students who I couldn’t find information on. Figures; who would talk about being a  _secret_  agent? I guess it fits, really; his size made it difficult for people to suspect him. Heck, even I’m finding myself hard to suspect him as a secret agent. As if sensing my doubts, he smiled and flashed me a thumbs up. “Hard to imagine, eh?”

“Yeah…” I smiled back. He seemed like one of the nicer ones; I’d better try to get to know him better later. The girl next to him stood up, and he sat back down, facing Aiel, who had begun chatting with him this time.

“Hi, I’m Daenna Angeles, Super High School Level Princess. Nice to meet you all.”  _OH._

**DAENNA ANGELES – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PRINCESS**

 

With an aura of refinement and grace, it’s no wonder she’s the SHSL Princess. She’s a bit too dressed down to be a princess, though… either that, or that was my usual headcanon for a princess talking for me.

I’ve read about the princess of the obscure country of Palekaiko before, in a magazine. Palekaiko was technically the sister country to the Philippines, so she was also technically the ruler of the Philippines. Or, at least, her mother and father, the king and queen of Palekaiko, are. She was a princess in training. With a dainty curtsy, she allowed the next boy to stand, and she sat down, arranging herself primly as she did so.

“Nahangel Chance Gelua here, and I’m the Super High School Level Heir!” Oh, so he was the SHSL Heir. No wonder.

**NAHANGEL GELUA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL HEIR**

Heir to the Gelua conglomerate, one of the most powerful groups in the Philippines, next to the royal family of Palekaiko, I kind of expected Nahangel to be really snooty. Guess he was one of the more down-to-earth ones. He had a kind face, but there was this mischievous glint in his eyes and a crafty smirk on his face that made you want to think twice about hanging out and trusting him with something like a dark secret.

He sat down, and the next girl stood up. I soon dozed off, listening as the names and titles whizzed above my head. Baker, Leader, Trendsetter, Attention Seeker, Jatulan, Shanayah, Joan… Some of them caught my attention though, and by those times, I sat up straighter, like when the SHSL Translator only used sign language to introduce himself. The SHSL Attorney was stiff and silent, and terribly civil, while the SHSL DJ was terribly loud and friendly.

Soon, the girl on my right was the one standing up and speaking. One person to go until I had to introduce myself. “Mikaela Corella, Super High School Level Dark Magician.”

**MIKAELA CORELLA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL DARK MAGICIAN**

 

When I first read up on the profile her fans had made online, I attributed her existence as a myth, really. I mean, getting into a school because of  _magic_? I’ll end up reading 50 Shades of Grey first before that happens. And besides, magic wasn't real. Those little magicians at those kids' parties, sure, but those warlocks and witches and all those things? Blah. But then again, right now, she had an aura of darkness that unnerved me to no bounds, and her braids seemed to be hanging unnaturally from her head, so she really must have been a dark magician. With a civil curtsy, she sat down, and I realized that it was my turn.

“It’s your turn!” Aiel gave me a warm smile. “Come on, don’t be shy!”

Shy? I wasn’t shy; I was anxious as heck. But I stood up anyway – shakily – and attempted to get a few words out, only to be interrupted by a childishly whiny voice blaring over the loudspeakers.

_“Ehhh, mic test, mic test. Good morning, bastards! Please face the stage now- you can hear me right? Mic test, mic test…”_

The voice sounded light and airy, really. Extremely cheerful, but it sounded so out of place in our current situation. It was like the out of place laughter heard during accidents… it sent at least twenty waves of shivers down my spine. And, judging from the faces of my new classmates, it sent shivers down theirs too.

We all turned to the stage, anxious, only to blink as what appeared to be a black and white stuffed kitten jumped out from behind the podium.

 “Good morning, everybody!” The kitten bowed to each of us in turn.

The one I recognized as Wilson jumped back, screeching, “UWAAAAH, IT JUST TALKED! THE TOY JUST TALKED!”

“C-calm down, Wilson!” The SHSL Therapist, Rosemary, turned and attempted to calm down the boy. “It probably just has some sort of speaker somewhere on it…”

The cat raged. “I’m not a toy, you bastards! I’m Monocat! You must treat this school’s headmaster with respect, you dig?”

“H-headmaster?!” What the actual fudgenuggets?!

Apparently everyone else shared the same sentiment as well, because most of them began protesting animatedly. I say most, because there were a few who only flashed the ‘toy’ a few middle fingers. Monocat didn’t like this at all apparently, because she – the voice sounded like a girl’s – unsheathed her claws, barreling at our group with an enraged yowl. We scattered to the sidelines, frightened.

Brushing herself off, the cat declared, “Much better! Now, as I was saying, I am your headmaster, Monocat, and, since it is my duty to inform you about the school, I will begin informing you right now!” With a wave of her paw, she continued, “You bastards are all filled with genius talent, yes? Your generation is the hope of the nation, right? And it is this school’s duty to cultivate your talents for better use, yes?”

“Will you get to the point already?!” Kyle – SHSL Swimmer – demanded.

The cat hissed. “ _Shut up._  Anyway, like I was saying, in order to preserve that hope, we have decided to keep you all inside the school, and you all must live a communal lifestyle together in order to preserve this world-changing hope! In other words,” At this, the cat yowled.  _ **“YOU WILL ALL STAY INSIDE THIS SCHOOL FOREVER~! UKUKUKUKUKU~!”**_

“F-forever?!” Dara – SHSL Leader – shivered, rubbing her arms in anxiety.

Monocat drawled, “Not to worry, my darlings! You have all the things needed here! Perfect air, perfect food, perfect rooms, it’ll be a shame if you’ll want to leave all these riches!”

“That’s not why we’re worried!” Nazarina – SHSL Mathematician – protested, brandishing a finger at the headmaster. “Is this all a huge joke? Are you lying to us about staying inside here forever?”

Monocat bristled. “Shame on you! I am not the Queen of Liars! I never lie; I always tell the truth because I am a very truthful kitty cat! Also, I should let you know,” She glanced at the windows. “All contact from the outside world has now been cut off, sorry~! You don’t need to worry about the cold and cruel outside world now, my pretties!”

_Cut… cut off?_

“So… all the iron plates on the windows…” I ventured slowly. Everyone turned to look at me. “They’re there to keep us in?”

Monocat whistled. “Hum, well, not exactly. They’re there to make the atmosphere creepier because I’m also a creepy kitty cat, teehee~! You can leave this building to check out all the other buildings, but I’m afraid the gate is forever closed, hoo hoo~! We’re all inside a large box of titanium diamond alloy, complete with machine guns and other wonderful things to keep us all safe and sound!”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Reymon protested.

**REYMON EVANGELISTA - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SCIENTIFIC ARCHER**

 

Did I mention that Reymon was one of the students who had double titles? Yeah. He was SHSL Scientist AND SHSL Archer, but some people like to condense it into one: the SHSL Scientific Archer. As impossible as it was, the school couldn’t give him only one title, so two were given to him. Although he looks like a lazy bum and he sometimes looks like he needs about twenty hours of sleep, Reymon's a really smart guy. He once manufactured a new element all by himself... by  _accident_. It wasn't recognized yet as a new element because Reymon didn't want stuff like that to get out too fast... and he was simply too lazy to figure out all the specifics about said new element, but I digress. He is also a star archer; he's won various archery competitions as a kid.

“There’s no such thing as titanium diamond alloy-“

 ** _“IF I SAY THERE IS TITANIUM DIAMOND ALLOY, THERE IS TITANIUM DIAMOND ALLOY~!”_** Monocat screeched at the top of her… lungs? We all covered our ears, the feedback from the microphone piercing our eardrums. “Now, where was I? AH, yes. There _is_ a way to get out of here, you know.”

I’m pretty sure my ears died the moment everyone else screamed, “WHAT IS IT?!”

“Aruuu~!!!” Monocat spun around dizzily at the simultaneous scream for a few moments. Then, with a shake of her head, she replied, “I have established the beautiful rule called ‘graduation’! That is, to graduate, you must break the peaceful communal lifestyle you bastards must live here! That is how to graduate from here!”

The SHSL Translator pushed up his glasses. “Dōiu imidesu ka?”

“I mean…” Monocat paused for dramatic effect. Then, with a flourish – and a Cheshire Cat grin – she yowled, “You must kill a classmate without being discovered! Maximum of eight classmates killed at a time, my pretties~!”

_K-kill?!_

Andrea’s glare could’ve made Monocat explode on the spot, which was pretty surprising, coming from the SHSL Artist. “You’ve _got_ to be kidding me.”

“I already told you, I am a very truthful kitty! If you really want to get out of here, you must kill a maximum of eight classmates without being discovered! Minimum being one, of course, but isn’t that boring?” Monocat shrugged, before peering at all of us curiously. “Oh, so delicious~! The students of hope, being stuck in such a despair-filled situation, with such delicious despairing faces… I can’t handle it, nyaaa~!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw – and heard – Bonn, the SHSL Rulebreaker, cracking his knuckles. “That does it. Get the fuck out of my way, douchebags.” Pushing his way past SHSL Musician Bea and SHSL Mathematician Nazarina/Ina, Bonn picked up Monocat and shook her around. “I got you, mother _fucker_. No matter what you are, I’m gonna fuckin’ _crush_ you!”

“Nyaaaa~!!! Violence against the headmaster is strictly forbidden~!!!” Alarmed, Monocat flailed around helplessly, before stopping, hanging limply from Bonn’s vicegrip. A beeping sound soon started, and I blinked rapidly. Where the heck was it coming from?

Bonn eyed Monocat poisonously. “I ain’t falling for your stupid-ass toy trick! Wake the fuck up!” He shook the supposed headmaster around in anger, and the beeping sound only grew louder… and faster. It sounded like…

“Bonn, toss it!” Mika’s voice rang out to the rulebreaker, and he turned around, looking at her questioningly. She shook her head, screaming, “TOSS IT!”

With the grace of a ballerina in a tar pit, Bonn tossed Monocat into the air, and… with a loud bang, she exploded. The dust choked me, and I coughed, attempting to wave away the smoke.

Bonn’s eye twitched. “What… the…”

“S-she’s probably gone now, r-right?” Aiel asked timidly, her hand shaking as she raised it to call our attention. “T-the toy e-exploded…”

_“Think again, bastards~!”_

It couldn’t be…!!!

Shaking, we turned towards the podium, where _another_ Monocat popped out, her dual colored face grinning maliciously at us as she unsheathed her claws, her face darkening. “Do you understand now that harming the principal is very un-kupo of you~?!”

“’Un-kupo’?” Mika twirled one of the long strands of hair that adorned the sides of her face. “A terrible attempt at impersonating a Moogle from Final Fantasy.”

 _Final… Fantasy?_ I didn’t know she played those kinds of games. Apparently, the others didn’t know either, because they turned to her in surprise, the Gamer and the Attorney’s eyes flashing in recognition.

Monocat giggled. “Ukukukuku~… you got me, you got me, but nevertheless, let this be a lesson to you all! I am very serious about what is happening right now, and it would be much better if you all listened to me, okay~? I only want what is best for you, my pretties~! Nyaaan~!”

“T-this is…” James, the SHSL Singer, only glared at Monocat with dark blue eyes.

Aiel’s lower lip quivered. “W-we…”

“Ah well,” Monocat’s paw bounced up and down in a dismissive manner. “Sorry to ruin your delicious despair, but I must go now and check on things, my dears. Have fuuuun~!” And with that, the cat did a somersault backwards, and disappeared behind the podium.

A moment of silence passed between all of us.

And then…

“We can’t stand around here forever, you know.” Eyes turned to stare at the source of the voice.

**JUSTINE ASPRAH – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ATTORNEY**

 

Attorney Asprah’s talents are pretty much unrivaled by even the most skilled lawyers in America. His amazing ability to find loopholes and hidden clues in pretty much everything have proven to be very crucial in pretty much all of the cases he’s taken part in. He, however, according to the forum about him, is very quiet, and only speaks when it’s important. There’s also something… inhuman about him. Like he wasn’t like everyone else.

Stormy gray eyes stared at each of us in turn, and I couldn’t help but feel a chill running down my spine as I asked, “What… what do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He turned to me, and I cowered under his cold metal gaze. “Somewhere, in this very room, is a possible murderer. Would _you_ like to stay in the presence of a potential killer?”

Oh.

We all turned to each other, distrust and confusion radiating off most of us in waves. Even Aiel looked worried, and Rosemary’s eyes flashed as she wrote down something on the little clipboard she had tucked under her arm… wait, what?

“Where’d you get that?” Reymon jumped to the question before me, glancing at the girl suspiciously.

The redhead blinked. “I had it on my person, of course. Such psychologically damaging events must be recorded, you know.”

“I will never understand women.” Kyle groaned, slapping his forehead.

Eugene laughed heartily behind me, slapping my back humorously. I gagged, choking on the strength of his friendly ‘pat on the back’. “Ah well, we’re men, aren’t we? Women are another species entirely compared to us!”

“Hehehe, yeah…” I began to smile; maybe we wouldn’t need to be afraid of each other. As long as we became friends, everything would be alright. I was about to speak up about that, when suddenly, a quiet voice asked darkly, “Are you all daft?”

“Do you all honestly think that becoming friends will prevent a chain of murders from happening?” I turned, and saw who was speaking. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he continued. “I’m telling you all right now; that’s the most pointless thing you could possibly do.”

**CHARLES PABLO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TRANSLATOR**

Known worldwide as the universal translator, his skills surpassed that of Google Translate’s. But then again, Google Translate was the worst translator ever, so I guess that isn’t a very good comparison. One of his best works – with help from the SHSL Writer – is his translation of the Harry Potter series in all possible languages known on Earth, and he’s also well versed in other forms of communication, like Morse code and sign language of different kinds.

Charles placed a hand on his hip, pushing his glasses up again, anime-style. Oh hell, it even _flashed_ like in the animes. “It’s better if we all decided not to have anything to do with each other. According to my calculations, that is our best option to increase our chances of survival.”

“According to _my_ calculations, you’re a huge prick.” Nazarina retorted, crossing her arms and glaring at the SHSL Translator venomously. “It’s better if we got to know each other better, right? Forming friendships will lessen the chances of people turning our backs on us if they’re genuine enough!”

He rounded on her, and I took a stance, ready to run to Ina’s aid. Wait… did I just call her Ina? “And what if they _don’t_ become genuine enough?” Charles’s voice was terribly saccharine and condescending as he gazed upon Ina, an eyebrow raised mockingly.

The girl growled. “Then I’ll ram your stupid glasses up your-“

“Hold it.” A hand held the girl back, and I blinked, realizing it belonged to the Super High School Level Gamer, Wilson Barrientos. The thickly built boy growled at Charles, “If anyone’s gonna shove anything up someone’s undeservingly pompous ass, it’s gonna be _me._ You had better take that back, you lousy piece of-“

“ _Va te faire foutre_ , you plebeian.” Charles hissed.

I knew I had to do something, so I moved between the two of them, hands outstretched to keep them as far away from each other’s’ throats as much as possible. Hesitantly, I said, “H-hey, guys, maybe you shouldn’t be fighting this early, you know…”

“Eh?” Wilson gave me a sideways look. “My fight isn’t with you, new kid. It’s with Mister Stick-Up-His-Sorry-“

I interrupted, “Yeah, yeah, I know, but seriously though-“

“It would do you well not to interfere with the battle which I am clearly winning.” Charles stated plainly, crossing his arms.

I swear I saw a vein bulge on Wilson’s forehead. “Why, you lousy son of a-“With an enraged growl, Wilson drew his fist back, and I tried to block it with my hands. Maybe I should’ve been called the SHSL Idiot instead.

His fist connected with my face, and I felt myself black out.


	3. Song of the Heart: (Ab)Normal Days - A Long Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which rules are introduced. That's basically it.

**[01: SONG OF THE HEART – (AB)NORMAL DAYS - A LONG NOTE]**

“Nngh… ghhh…”

When I first opened my eyes, everything was deathly white. Was I in heaven? Did I die? Did someone murder my sorry butt _already_? Was it Wilson? Probably. Or maybe I’m just being terribly paranoid; there’s a possibility that I wasn’t dead yet. If only the whiteness would just go away…

Oh. My vision began clearing up, and soon I saw that the whiteness I had been initially flailing around in was the light from the light bulb hanging right above me. Sitting up, I yawned, and stretched my arms gratefully. My muscles were all bunched up, so it was a relief to stretch them. Where was I?

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” With a start, I looked around, and saw a girl sitting to my left on a chair next to the bed I was lying down on. Wait, where was I again? And how’d I get here? And who was she?

I must’ve looked really confused, because the girl tilted her head to the side, chuckling. “You’re in your room on the ground floor of the Main Building. Monocat said that she had basically demolished the first floor and reformatted everything so that we’d all have separate rooms, although some of us are sharing. You’re lucky; you don’t need to share.”

 _Ah, that’s right; I haven’t told anyone my talent yet._ “Ah, sorry, but…” I almost sweatdropped. “I think I forgot your name…”

“Bea, Bea Liberato.” She smiled, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy. “Super High School Level Musician.”

**BEATRICE LIBERATO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL MUSICIAN**

 

A jack of all trades in terms of musical instruments, Bea’s name is revered throughout the music industry for her ability to play any instrument handed to her. Whether it was modern or ancient, another version of a pre-existing instrument or a new prototype, she could play them. It’s also rumored that she has an angelic sounding voice, like that of a cherubim. Not that I know what cherubim sound like, anyway.

Bea said, “You’re Marc, right? I remember your face. You were really nervous around Mika a while ago, but you were brave enough to stand up to Wilson and Chuckie. That makes you a cool person in my book.”

“A-ah… that’s right, what happened?” I asked curiously. “I blacked out, and then…?”

She shrugged. “We had a hard time dragging you over here; you’re just really heavy, to be honest, so we got Eugene and Bismarck to help haul you over here. I was assigned to watch over you until you came to.”

“By who?”

“Dara, obviously. She isn’t a SHSL Leader for nothing.”

“Ah.” I looked down awkwardly, a bit embarrassed as I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks. _NO, BLOOD, DAMN IT, LISTEN TO DADDY; DON’T YOU DARE SHOW UP AS A BLUSH NOW._ “So, um-“

Bea raised an eyebrow. “Are you blushing?”

“N-no!” I quickly turned my head away as I cursed. _DAMMIT, BLOOD RUSH!!! Of all the possible times to show up…_ “S-so, um, why did Dara assign you to watch over me again?”

The musician perked up. “Ah, that reminds me! Eugene decided to hold a sort of meeting every morning at the canteen just next to this building, so as to have a sort of tally as to who is still alive, you know? He instructed us that we would all have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the canteen together.”

“Oh.” Good grief. At least I knew who Eugene was – he was the tallest one here next to that other tall guy. I had barely had enough time to memorize everyone’s names, and I was pretty sure that Wilson’s knockout punch had brutally murdered some of my brain cells. But anyway, I was wide awake by now, and as I shifted so that my feet were now touching the ground, Bea stood up, brushing some dust off her jeans. “Well, I think I feel better now, thanks.”

Bea smiled. “Great! The others are waiting right now, so I think it’d be best if you fixed yourself up first.” With a small bow towards me, she headed towards the door, opening it, and turning her head to me again, waving. “I’ll see you there!” And with that, she closed the door behind her quietly, leaving me to my own devices.

Well, great. Just great.

Stretching again, I looked around my room. The windows were also covered up, no surprise there, and my room apparently also had a functioning bathroom, if the other door there in the corner is any indication. Curiously, I walked over there, and opened the door… to reveal a really, really _awesome_ bathroom. Monocat really prepared everything. Not that I’m thankful for it or anything… okay, maybe I was, but that’s beside the point.

Beside the bed I had been laying on a few minutes ago, there was a desk, a lamp, and a notepad, with a ballpoint pen included. The pen had a Monocat head on it, but that really didn’t bother me, honestly. When I opened the drawers on the desk, the bigger one contained clothes identical to the ones I wore now, one of the smaller ones held some underwear, and another held a toolbox, filled with the essentials.

“Now where would I need a toolbox?” I mused, picking it up and examining the contents from all sides. _I have absolutely no idea_ how _I’d be able to utilize this properly._ Quietly, I returned my toolbox to its drawer, before gently mussing up my hair to its regular state prior to my terrible case of bed head. I then left my room, tentatively looking around before exiting and closing the door behind me.

When I glanced at the door to my room, I saw a little pixelated portrait of what appeared to be me, along with my name; **MARC** , in bolded capital letters. Huh. It was pretty accurate. With a shrug, I moved to my left and to my right, looking at who owned the rooms next door.

On the left, apparently, **ROSE** and **JENITA** were sharing a room, while on the right, the room belonged to **BONN** and **NAHAN**. Same-gender pair ups. I wasn’t really surprised, but I had half-expected Monocat to have been some sort of fangirl (fancat?) of shipping, or something like that. She just seemed like the type.

A door opened a little far aways from where I had been standing, and I turned, seeing… oh. It was Mika. The SHSL Dark Magician’s long braids, which almost fell down to her ankles, were… floating? It appeared so from afar. Quietly I prayed that I wasn’t hallucinating, that they really were floating and not being held up by some unseen spirits, before I ran after her, calling out, “H-hey!”

“?” Turning around, Mika faced me, and I froze, unable to say anything. Raising an eyebrow, she tapped her foot impatiently on the floor before inquiring, “What do you want, Marc?”

 _I-I don’t recall ever mentioning my name to anybody…_ “H-how do you know who I am?”

“Well…” The girl studied her shoes intently before saying. “Normally, I’d be totally honest and say that I knew your name the moment you sat down next to me during introductions, but I don’t want to frighten you, so pretend I never said that and I said that I saw you going out of the room labeled **MARC**.”

“Oh.” I said in a tiny voice. She really _was_ a Super High School Level Dark Magician. I guess predictions were part of the package. “So, um, are you going to the canteen to meet up with the, um, others? Cause, uh, I really don’t know the way and-“

“Neither do I.” Mika shrugged, and I groaned helplessly. Great, just grea- “But we can get lost together, if you want.” Did, did she just- “Yes, I offered to get lost with you on the way to the canteen.” DID SHE JUST- “No, I didn’t read your mind, you idiot.” OH MY GOD- “Will you quit inwardly screaming and haul your ass out of here, Marc?”

I stammered and sputtered helplessly, but I did follow her towards the stairs nearby, which led to the outside world. There were two, no, three other buildings outside, but the one she headed to was the nearest. And, if I could fathom a guess, it was the canteen. It was noisy in there.

“Ah, there he is!” Before I could say anything, Aiel tackled me to the ground, giggling in delight. “We were so worried when you collapsed, Marc!”

Ina nodded in affirmation. “You made such a loud thump when you fell; probably around 40 to 60 decibels. And the angle in which you fell was around 80 to 90 degrees. Very dangerous for someone of your size.”

“Gee, thanks Ina.” I muttered sarcastically.

She blinked at this. “Did you just call me Ina?”

“Um… yeeeeeaaaah?” I ventured semi-timidly, opting to hide behind Mika, who sighed and stepped aside to reveal me again.

Ina blinked once more, and then chuckled. “You’re the first one to give me a nickname that fits me. Thanks, Marc. Ina is definitely easier to say than Nazarina. That’s a mouthful!”

**NAZARINA TERCERO - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL MATHEMATICIAN**

 

Child prodigy Nazarina Tercero - or Ina, as you may have noticed - has the amazing ability to recite the square root of pi. All of it. She can also solve math problems faster than the average human, and her calculating speed rivals that of the fastest supercomputer. And get this; she's only  _twelve years old_. Which should be considered AWESOME, considering that most of the students here were fourteen and up. According to her fan page, Ina's been capable of solving incredibly complex problems even at the age of five -  _mentally,_ and that's an achievement; I can't even solve something like... um... 2x plus something something.

“’Midget’ fits much better.” I noted the tanned boy standing next to Ina – Kyle, the SHSL Swimmer. Ina gave him a backwards uppercut – the best she could – and it hit him square in the jaw. He fell down, groaning, and most of the girls giggled. “Owww…”

I couldn’t help laughing myself, actually, and once Kyle stood up, he gave me the evil eye, which I rolled my eyes at. “It’s not my fault she’s got a mean right hook.”

“And I’ll show you how mean my left hook can be if you don’t stop calling me Midget.” Ina threatened, brandishing her left fist at his face. Kyle yelped and shrank back, making the rest of us erupt into laughs again.

Eugene clapped his hands together once. “Alright gang-“

“Gang?” We all echoed. “Really?”

The boy rolled his eyes. “Okay, whatever, _guys_ , I’m pretty sure everyone’s here by now, since Marc and Mika have already arrived-“

“Sorry I’m late, guys!”

I turned around and goggled at who was standing behind me. It was the other tall dude, uh, whatshisname… Charles scoffed, pushing up his glasses. “It figures that we’d forget about the Super High School Level Latecomer.”

**BISMARCK SALAZAR – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL LATECOMER**

Bismarck is a great student and all, really great in the fields of mathematics and science, but he has the alarming tendency to be forever late. Whether it be seconds, minutes, hours, even _days_ late, you can pretty much count on Bismarck to always be, as some people would say, ‘fashionably late’. I saw him featured on the newspaper once for having the Guiness World Record of being late to a birthday party… for three years. He only remembered when a hamster fell on his face, years later.

… Yes, he got into AxSci because he was perpetually late. Sue me.

Bismarck rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I’m really sorry guys, I didn’t mean to be late to such an important meeting…”

“It’s to be expected.” Eugene shrugged.

**EUGENE DATO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PRESIDENT**

People expect Eugene to become the next president of the Philippines. He’s a really good president, and he actually takes initiative and leads groups whenever Dara, the Super High School Level Leader, isn’t around. He’s not much of a figurehead leader like our current president – pardon me – but sometimes he can be a bit… er… gullible. I remember being classmates with him once… but… I forgot what grade we were in then.

We each took a seat around the two tables pushed against each other, sitting in a large square, with Eugene at the head of the table, and Dara at the other end of the table. I was sitting in between Aiel (who had graciously saved a seat for me next to her) and Dave, who had flashed me a smile before Aiel had forcibly dragged me over there.

“Alright guys,” Eugene slammed his fist on the table to call our attention. “We will now discuss our means of escape! Begin discussion!”

Wilson spoke up first. “Maybe we should take out that stupid cat, for one! Or whatever’s producing them! Right?”

“Wrong.” I should have expected Charles’s retort. “You remember what Bonn did, don’t you remember?”

Daenna murmured quietly, “Well, maybe we could deactivate whatever bomb is inside of her, you know? Perhaps someone here is a Super High School Level Technician?”

“Good luck with finding them.” James rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure there _isn’t_ a Super High School Level Technician around here; that’d be too easy for us.”

Reymon looked around. “Well, there’s also the fact that the other buildings are still closed down. Maybe we could get people to knock those barricades down…?”

“I already tried that.” Bonn crossed his arms and huffed. “My knuckles hurt so fucking much.”

“You shouldn’t have used your fists then, you _idiot_.” Nahangel chided him. Bonn swatted at him, and Nahangel only laughed, ducking as he did so. “But anyway, the Main Building and the canteen are the only ones open, so far. Monocat said that the Science, Maceda, and Bordner building will be closed until someone commits a murder.”

At the word murder, we all quieted down. I felt Mika bristling from across the table, and Aiel shivering next to me, clinging to my arm. The atmosphere was tense; foreboding, even. The threat of death hung over our heads like vultures hanging over a carcass in the savannah, waiting to feast on the rotten flesh of the lion’s prey… wow, that was deep.

“Well, if it’s any help, I found a store near the back of the Bordner building…” A voice murmured timidly, coming from my right. It belonged to a somewhat-shy looking girl with a beauty mark underneath her left eye, wearing what looked to be a frilly apron thing… ah. The Super High School Level Baker, Ana.

**ANA GARCIA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BAKER**

To be honest, I think Ana’s better off as a Cake Decorator than an actual Baker; sure, she can bake really cool, but her designs are to _die_ for. From what I’ve researched, the school actually held an open debate with the students already in the school on what her title would be. Why, you ask? This was because there was another person – Andrea Embuscado, who also happened to be sitting at least seven seats away from me to my right at the moment – who was an excellent baker. However, since she also held the talents of skilled artistry and singing, she was given the position of Super High School Level Artist (James Jayoma – who was ALSO somewhere here, can’t figure out for the love of me where, though – took on the position of SHSL Singer instead).

When everyone’s gazes turned to her, Ana grew a little more confident, speaking up a little bit louder. “I-It’s fully stocked with materials that students w-would naturally need that aren’t available… here in the canteen… l-like ballpens and art paper and n-notebooks…”

“And also _food~!_ ” I started, glancing around wildly to find the source of the voice, when suddenly, Monocat emerged from underneath the two tables we had put next to each other. _How in the world…?_ “It’s full of snacks like Kitkats and Snickers and- oh, y’know what I’m talking about, nyaa~!” The two-toned cat hugged itself and purred in delight.

Aiel _shrieked_ , clinging to my arm tightly. I bit my lip; boy, she gripped _hard_. I could feel the blood circulation being cut off from my fingers. Monocat guffawed at this, laughing her traditional _“Ukukukukuku~!”_ before straightening up, brushing herself off, and declaring, “Oh, I almost forgot, my darlings~! I left each of you a present in your room, so go check it out later, m’kay? By the way, did you enjoy my first present?”

“You mean the sewing kits?” Ellianna ventured. Monocat nodded, and the girl sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Didn’t really feel anything about that.”

**ELLIANNA AREOLA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PHOTOGRAPHER**

It’s amazing how Ellianna manages to find time to capture the most pristine moments in everyone’s life… or at least, the pristine moments in the lives of the people currently around her. It’s like she has a second sense for taking pictures at exactly the right moment, and it’s always a miracle how none of her pictures end up blurred. She’s known worldwide for being the Japanese SHSL Photographer’s Filipino representative, but from what I’ve heard, Ellianna resents that title, and would rather be known as her own SHSL Photographer and not as just a Filipino representative. It doesn’t help that their hair and personalities are almost the same.

Jenita spoke up, commenting, “The pressure point map is very helpful, nya~! I never knew I could potentially paralyze someone by hitting somewhere near their ears!”

Almost immediately, everyone’s hands flew up to their ears on reflex. Monocat laughed loudly at our reactions, and I almost reached out to strangle her right then and there. _Almost_. Then, with yet another graceful backflip, she ducked underneath the table, and when we looked down, she was gone. Was there a trapdoor or something there?

“Well, anyway,” Dara straightened up, and everyone else did so as well, sitting up quite promptly when she looked up. “Since it’s obvious we’re technically incapable of finding any exits with most of the buildings still under lockdown, maybe we can discuss what we’ve found out so far?”

**DARA ILAYA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL LEADER**

 

I’m pretty sure what she does is pretty obvious, right? Her talent is one of the ones that AxSci really covets and wishes to cultivate, because hey, who doesn’t want a Super High School Level Leader? Dara is practically the best leader who’s ever existed so far; the groups she’s led have all been successful in their previous endeavors – like when the Girl Scouts enlisted her help in leading some sort of rally or something? I forgot what it was, but I can tell you that with Dara’s help, they managed to make whoever they were rallying to listen and help them out. And to think they’ve been rallying for about three months!

A relatively chubby girl raised her hand. “From what I’ve seen, there are cameras everywhere except for the bathrooms. In the classrooms, in the bedrooms, and pretty much everywhere else.” Thinking for a bit, she looked down, and then, she looked back up again. “There are also machine guns stationed in a few places.”

**PAULA MARTINEZ – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL WRITER**

Paula’s a renowned writer – her current bestseller, “Kiss of the Dead”, has pretty much sold over at least 250,000,000 copies all over the world… I’m not really sure about that number, but more or less. No, it’s not a romance novel, but it’s interesting. I borrowed it once from my old school’s library. Paula’s also an all-around genre writer – she’s pretty much written everything there is under the sun: romance, adventure, comedy, suspense, horror, and the like. Her co-translation with Charles of the Harry Potter series is also really popular, because I _think_ they put little comments at the end of each book that made things hilarious…?

“You literally can’t hear anything from the next room too.” A boy wearing headphones stated. Well, he wasn’t technically wearing them; they were hanging from his neck. “Me and Ina tried making noise, but we didn’t hear anything. It’s very soundproof.”

**JOSHUA DE VERA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL DJ**

 

I never really thought much about the SHSL DJ. I mean, you got into a school because you’re great at remixing things on a turntable. Wow, that’s very admirable. But my sarcasm aside, he’s one of the most hired DJs in Southeast and East Asia, and when he doesn’t have anything to do in Asia he gets dragged onto gigs in America and Europe. Poor guy; he literally can’t help being a good DJ. Heck, he even dances to an invisible beat no one can hear; his head bops to a beat that only he can hear. Perhaps the air sings to him?

Ina nodded vigorously. “I think I kicked and turned over everything in the room, but Joshua says he didn’t hear me. That’s kind of sad.”

“So, uh, anything else?” Dara looked around, smiling gently at each of us in turn. “Come on, don’t be shy, maybe this will help us get out.”

…

…

… Well, looks like we said everything.

_Skrrrriiiiiitch…_

I looked around, looking for the source of the sound, when I saw Mika stand up and head towards… what was that place? “Hey, uh, Mika, where’re you goin’?”

“…” Mika glanced at me. “… I’m hungry, I want some bacon, and I haven’t eaten breakfast yet. Is that a good answer for you?”

_Grumble… grumble…_

I looked down. Come to think of it, I was hungry too… oh great, now I’m really hungry. With a groan, I stood up, and the rest of the class followed after us, mumbling about how they too were hungry. Only a select few remained; they were either too lazy to get up, waiting for everyone to get back before going themselves, or someone was taking them their breakfast. I didn’t care, really; I was too _starving_ to care.

Once I managed to get my breakfast, I sat back down happily, and without another word, I dug in.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

About an hour later, after a few more words with the others, I went back to the room I had all to myself. It was really weird that I had a whole room all to myself, unlike the others. From what I picked up from their discussions (I kind of skirted on the borderlines of their conversations; only adding a few words or two), some of them had opposite-gender pairups in the roommate thing…y… like Ina, who was reluctantly bunking with Dave (who had yelled that yes, he too hated the fact that he was stuck with a midget like her), and basically that situation ended with them arguing over who was the real midget. (“You’re a hypocrite!” ”I’m just stating facts!” ”MIDGET!” “PINT-SIZE” “I’M GOING TO KICK YOU OUT OF THE ROOM TONIGHT!” “YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” “YES I CAN!!!”)

Another pairup was… I think it was Charles and Bea? Bea looked happy enough to have what she called an ‘interesting roommate’, while Charles only scoffed and looked away, pushing his glasses up again… I think I might’ve been hallucinating, but I saw a very faint pink tinge on Charles’s cheeks when he turned away… But anyway, they looked at least a little content with their roommate, though Bea kind of turned to Charles and told him in the sweetest voice possible that if he laid a hand on her he was dead minutes later...

But let’s stop at that. Anyway, like I said, I was in my room, and surprise, surprise, the second gift Monocat had left for us was what seemed like a digital Student I.D.; it had my own personal infos on it, and little write-ups for all my ‘classmates’ too, with their likes and dislikes, and a photo of them on the side. There were tabs – like on a browser! – that showed a map of the current buildings we’ve unlocked, and who resided in which room, and on another there were the rules and regulations of what we’ve dubbed Despair Science High School.

The rules were as follows:

  1. No damaging of school property. There are machine guns ready to strike you down if you deface anything near them.
  2. Night Time is at 10:00PM. All students must be in their rooms by that time.
  3. Day Time is at 6:00AM. All students are obliged to have at least taken a bath by then.
  4. No attempting to get into locked buildings. Remember: machine guns.
  5. You cannot harm the principal.
  6. You can basically do anything else not listed here, but keep X-Rated things to a minimum, nya?
  7. Also, you must always be prepared to do your own laundry.
  8. That’s a rule.
  9. This and the above rule is also a rule.
  10. The students shall live a communal lifestyle with no set time limit inside the school.
  11. You are all given special dormitory rooms tailored specifically to suit each and every one of your Super High School Levels, and if you're sharing a room, you are not allowed to switch roommates.
  12. Sleeping is permitted only in the special dormitory rooms; no sleeping in the hallways, kiddos.
  13. Someone who kills a fellow student will graduate from the school; however, they must not let anyone else know that they are the culprit.
  14. You are free to investigate the school and its secrets, or whatever. The school ain't got no stupid secrets.
  15. Also, additional rules can be added at any time.
  16. That's a real rule.



When I read rule 6, I blushed furiously. What the hell, Monocat? You crazy little… with an embarrassed grumble, I turned off my student I.D. and stuffed it into my pocket, flopping myself onto my bed, groaning in exasperation before turning to the clock above the door to the bathroom.

10:00AM.

I had about two hours before lunch time.

And I didn’t know what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, I guess the Free Time Events are about to start.
> 
> Got any suggestions for how many there should be before the first major event happens?


	4. Song of the Heart: (Ab)Normal Days - The Ballad of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which free time is spent semi-wisely, and bonds, strengthened.

**[01: SONG OF THE HEART – (AB)NORMAL DAYS – THE BALLAD OF HOPE]**

**10:20AM**

_ZzzzzZZZzzzz… snrt?_

_Ugh…_ I groaned, rolling over on my bed… only to fall right out of it.

_THUNK!_

“OW!” I yelled, some choice curse words rolling off my tongue as I sat up and looked around, terribly disoriented. It was then that I remembered that I was still in Despair Science, in my solo room, napping like a huge otaku dork. I’m probably stereotyping or something, but I honestly don’t know how to call myself right now, or twenty minutes prior. Checking the clock again, I realized I had about one hour and forty minutes to do something relatively productive, so I sighed and stood up, dusting off my clothes and running them through the lint roller that Monocat had inconspicuously provided for us the day we arrived to Despair Science.

_Great… now what…?_

With a sigh, I shoved my hands into my hoodie’s pockets and pushed my way out of my room, looking around. Seemed like nobody was hanging around in the hallway outside of the rooms… huh?

Turning my head to the right, I saw a familiar pink ponytail bobbing up and down, and immediately I recognized it as Aiel, who waved happily to me… with two other people in tow. One looked like he was deeply engrossed in whatever magazine he was currently reading, while the other was loudly belting out songs in what was either Japanese or Korean. Probably the latter.

I sweatdropped as Aiel stopped in front of me, smiling. “Hello, Marc! Did you have a good nap?”

“Uh… how’d you know I was napping?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

With a sheepish grin, the pink haired girl mumbled, “Um, I a-asked Mika... only ‘cause you weren’t answering the door when I knocked on it, of course! She guessed that you were n-napping, so I just decided to hang out with Arfel and Hunny here! They were the only people who weren’t really _that_ busy, so…”

“Oh, hey.” The boy – Arfel, probably – looked up from his magazine. “You watch anime too, don’t you?”

**ARFEL CATIPAY – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL OTAKU**

 

Honestly, I kind of doubt AxSci’s standards for accepting students into the school. Some of them didn’t even make sense… but I’d be hypocritical if I said that out loud; after all, I _did_ get into school because of my surprisingly good luck. But anyway, Arfel’s the SHSL Otaku, and as such, he is very well-versed in the world of anime. You could probably make a reference to some obscure anime, and he’d most likely know about it if he thought about it for a few seconds. According to his fan page, his favorites included the Studio Ghibli movies, and rumors have been spreading that he owns a _lot_ of anime body pillows. But those were probably just rumors. He’s a respectable otaku; the best there is.

I nodded. “Uh, yeah. Do you… watch Angel Beats! too?”

“DO I!” Arfel yelled suddenly, his eyes flashing in delight. He then launched into a long spiel about said anime, and I sweatdropped again. _Boy, he sure is enthusiastic…_ Turning to the other one, Hunny, I assumed, I asked, “Er, you must be… Hunny, right?”

The girl stopped in her singing for a while. “Mm-hmm! Tell me, do you enjoy listening to EXO?”

**HUNNY LAURENTE – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL K-PROPHET**

 

I’m not even sure what a K-Prophet is, but at the very least, it’s better than being a SHSL Attention Seeker. From what I can see, Hunny is a huge K-Pop fan, and her title was K-Prophet, so… she must’ve been some sort of K-Pop Prophet. Which probably meant she was someone who proclaimed the Good K-Pop news to all. She garnered a deathly loyal fanbase online because she has been to nearly all the possible K-Pop concerts, has proof that she went to them, and she has the names of most of the bands pretty much imprinted on the back of her brain.

Cocking my head to the side, I asked, “What’s EXO?”

“WHAAAAT? You don’t know what EXO is?!” With a strangled gasp, Hunny held my shoulders and stared straight into my soul. Er, I’m exaggerating, don’t worry. “EXO is one of the best KPOP boy bands in the history of KPOP! O-m-g, how come you never knew?!”

I laughed nervously. “U-uhm, I’m not much of a K-Pop fan, you know…”

“O-M-G, that’s not right!” And just like Arfel, Hunny then began spouting off reasons why I should be a K-Pop fan like her. Wow… turning to Aiel, I asked, “Exactly how do you manage _not_ to go crazy while hanging around these kinds of people?”

Aiel thought about it for a bit before smiling. “Well, you know, Marc, I don’t find it hard.”

 _Huh?_ “How come?”

“Well, I guess I just find these kinds of things…” She gestured to the two of them. “Really endearing, I suppose!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Exactly how are these sorts of things endearing?”

“I don’t know.” Aiel smiled and giggled. “I just find them endearing.”

We remained silent for a few moments, waiting until both Arfel and Hunny stopped talking. Arfel stopped first, thankfully, and he returned to his reading, smiling from time to time and glancing at me, and when Hunny finally stopped, she looked really tired, but thankful. I was thankful too; thankful that they had both stopped talking.

“Hey…” Startled, I turned to Aiel, who was fiddling with the various bangles on her wrist. “Do you think… we will be able to get out of here, Marc?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I… of course, Aiel! Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just that…” The girl looked downcast, and for one whole minute, I felt guilt. I don’t know why I felt guilty; I just did. “It looks hopeless, doesn’t it?”

Arfel sighed. “This is just like in that other anime; students stuck in a school until they have to murder each other in their desperation to get out. It’s so sad.”

“I want to see my darlings again…” Hunny looked downcast as well. “My sweet, adorable Yixing…”

“T-that’s not right!” I shouted suddenly, startling all three of them. They stared at me as I continued, albeit a bit nervously, “W-we shouldn’t just think that the situation is hopeless! There’s always… always just a little hope in everything, right?”

Hunny looked at me. “But… we’re stuck in here, aren’t we? I can’t update my fellow fans on when the next concert is going to happen, and I certainly can’t help new fans in choosing what bands to cherish forever in here…”

“I can’t update my blog,” Arfel added. “And I certainly won’t be aware if a new anime or manga has been released.”

Aiel frowned. “And I won’t get to talk to my friends! I mean, you guys are all my friends here, but there are still so many friends outside!”

“But that’s just it.” I smiled, placing a hand on Arfel’s shoulder in reassurance. Glancing at each of them in turn, I continued, “If we really want to get outside, we’re gonna have to hold onto even just a little hope that we’ll get to go outside again… without murdering anybody, of course.”

“Hunny,” The girl blinked. “The desire you experience… your desire to attend and educate more people on K-Pop once you get out… that’s a kind of hope! You shouldn’t despair that we’ll not be able to go out again; you should keep holding onto that hope that you will get to educate more people on K-Pop!”

“Arfel,” He looked at me. “Um… I don’t know much about anime like you, but isn’t the fact that you feel strongly about wanting to see another anime being produced a type of hope? I’m not really good at encouraging people, but I’m sure that if you cling to this hope, you will get to encourage more people to watch anime when we get out!”

“ _When_ we get out?” Arfel laughed. “Aren’t you being a little bit too hopeful, Marc?”

I smiled. “Can’t help it, really. And there’s no such thing as being too hopeful, Arfel. And Aiel,” The pink haired girl blinked up at me. “Hope that people will remain friends forever is what helps you get through the day, right?” When she nodded, I continued. “If we each hold onto this hope, we can all get through this thing… together!”

“Even if some of us are a little bit late to the hope party?” Arfel asked dryly, and I chuckled. “Yes, even Bismarck will get through with us, even if he _is_ a little bit late.”

Aiel’s eyes glittered with hope. “Thanks, Marc. That was really nice of you to try and cheer us up. I feel a bit happier already!”

“Yeah, me too!” Hunny made a peace sign. “Tell you what; if I ever do decide to murder someone, I’ll make sure it isn’t you!”

 _What the hell?_ “What the hell, Hunny?” Arfel turned to Hunny, flabbergasted.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, yeesh!” Hunny laughed, and moments later, Aiel began giggling too, until finally, all four of us were laughing. Charles was wrong; maybe we _could_ get through all of this if we made friends with each other. Love makes the world go round, I think… at least, that was what Aiel said on a national interview. Bluh.

When we stopped, I smiled at each of them in turn. “That was great and all, you guys, but I think I’ll be walking around for a while, okay? I’m sure the three of you want to hang out for a bit longer…”

“Oh, don’t worry about us, Marc!” Aiel’s carnation pink eyes shone with glee. “We’ll be fine! You go on ahead and do whatever you want, okay?”

 _Thanks, Aiel…_ “I’ll be seeing you guys, then.” And with that, I jogged away, waving goodbye to the trio.

Within a few minutes, I found myself in the Amadome, wandering aimlessly. The Amadome is basically just a huge convex silver roof covering most of what looked to be a basketball court between the Main Building, the one I was in previously, and the Computer Building. The Bordner building was also nearby, and the little retail store Ana mentioned before was also nearby. I looked down, unsure of what to do. What was I going to do now? Nothing really interesting was going on…

**_“I-It’s fully stocked with materials that students w-would naturally need that aren’t available… here in the canteen… l-like ballpens and art paper and n-notebooks…”_ **

A lightbulb flashed above my head. I could go to the retail store! With a smile, I jogged my way over there, thinking. _Ana did say that there were all sorts of things there… maybe there would be things that could help us!_ Grinning giddily, I began humming my favorite tune. When I reached the retail store, however, I came face to face with- whoa.

“Oh?” The girl turned, and I couldn’t help but be transfixed by the way her fuchsia hair moved in the slight breeze. It didn’t seem purely fuchsia though – in a certain light, it looked like a mix between fuchsia and violet. “Oh, hello there, Marc. I was simply checking out the retail store Ana mentioned.”

“Ah… you’re… Arah, right?” I ventured slowly. The girl nodded briskly, and I sighed.

**ARAH DOMINGO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SECRETARY**

 

Arah’s the best secretary there ever was. Top companies from all over the country have been fighting to get her on their staff, but she’s only ever been under three very influential groups of people: the Gelua conglomerate – which meant she had met Nahangel prior to this, the royal family of Palekaiko – she must’ve met Daenna too, and currently, according to her fan page, she was working for the Datos, which meant she was technically under Eugene’s orders. I don’t see him around her often, though, and vice versa.

“So, uh, Arah, what are you doing here again?” I asked timidly.

Arah pushed up her glasses in a Charles-like way, except with more elegance. “I’m probably doing the same thing you would be doing – investigating. The retail store seems to be pretty average, although I have no idea what this thing is.” She stepped aside, and I saw a machine outside of the retail store that looked similar to a Japanese gachapon. You know, those egg things with prizes in them.

“What would a gachapon be doing in a place like this…?” I mumbled, examining the machine.

Arah shrugged. “I don’t have any idea either, but Monocat dropped by and gave me about thirty Monocoins for what she called the Mono-Mono Machine.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a coin with Monocat’s face on it. “Do you want to try it out?”

“Uh, sure.” I took the coin and turned to the machine, inserting it into the coin slot before turning the little dial in front. Immediately, an egg dropped down, and I took it, opening it up, while Arah gazed on thoughtfully. “Uh… what exactly am I going to do with this?”

“You trade it in for the item prescribed on it, nyaaa~!”

“GAAH!” I yelled, jumping back as Monocat popped out from behind the retail store’s front desk, giggling. “You stupid little-“

“Ah, ah!” The cat tsked, snatching the slip of paper I had received from the egg. “Let’s see… ooh, you got really lucky, yes indeed! I’ll be right back!” The cat dug into the various boxes, searching for something, until finally, she jumped out, holding… what the hell was that? “Your prize, nya~!”

“… What am I supposed to do with a stuffed shiny Ralts?” I asked, an eyebrow raised as I showed the stuffed Pokemon to Arah, who chuckled. “No, seriously; what do I do with a Ralts?”

Monocat shrugged. “Maybe you’d like to give it to someone, yes?”

“Hmmm…” I stared at the toy. _Maybe_ … I turned to Monocat again, about to ask another question, but she was gone once more, her maniacal cackling fading away. Groaning, I turned to Arah, who only shrugged before saying, “I’ll be in the room I share with Nathan if you need me.” And with that, the SHSL Secretary was gone, leaving nary but a hair.

… Wow, I sounded so poetic for a moment there.

Tucking the stuffed Shiny Ralts under my arm, I headed back to my room solemnly. Aiel, Hunny and Arfel were nowhere to be found, and it was already around 10:50. Thirty minutes. I still had about an hour or so before I had to head to lunchtime, so I took that as an opportunity to throw the Ralts on the floor, kick off my shoes, and dissolve on my bed.

Man, for such a creepy setting, this sure was a nice, warm bed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**37/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	5. Song of the Heart: (Ab)Normal Days - The Song That Invokes The Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the first motive is introduced, and our hero, disturbed.

When lunchtime rolled around, I was still pretty bored.

I entered the canteen minutes later, greeted with ‘Hi’s and ‘Hello’s from the early-bird group. I’m not listing everyone down because aw hell no, that was tedious. But anyway, I sat down in the chair I used before – cause apparently, that was a fixed seating arrangement, but that doesn’t matter – smiling at Ina, who smiled before taking a bite out of the chicken she had on her plate.

Apparently, Monocat liked setting up lunches and dinners. We had to fend for ourselves in the mornings, but – according to what I picked up from the others – Monocat had promised that once in a while she would set up our lunches and dinners because hey, she was a kind kitty cat and she liked cooking.

Today’s special was roasted poultry, apparently.

“Man, this is delicious!” I turned, spotting Eugene digging into a turkey leg. “For a robot thing, Monocat sure can cook!”

“A-are you sure it’s not p-poisoned…?” Ana ventured timidly, staring at her own plate, which had some duck wings on it.

Ina smiled gently. “Ana, I’m pretty sure Monocat wouldn’t want us to die because of _her_ cooking. She’d like it more if we killed each other, but that’s not gonna happen, right?”

“R-right…” And with that, Ana began taking timid bites as well.

The next bunch of people who walked in included the students who took their own sweet time getting to the canteen. They ranged from the normal – Arfel – to the creepy – Mika – to the weird – Rosemary – to the absolute jerks – Charles. Minutes later, the last batch arrived, and after them, Bismarck arrived, completing the thirty seven students we had.

Minutes later, Mika was delicately poking at her food, from what I could see from my place, so I asked, “What’s wrong, Mika? It’s not poisoned.”

“…” The girl’s eye twitched and I flinched, moving backwards a bit. Did I piss her off or something? Oh god…

Charles didn’t flinch, however. “She hates chicken.” He deadpanned, spooning some chicken into his mouth. “It’s like how garlic is to vampires.”

“But that’s _turkey_.” Dara said pointedly.

“Doesn’t matter to her.” Charles shot back.

“And how would _you_ know what she hates and loves?” Ina glared at Charles.

“I’m her twin brother, you little shit.” The translator snapped.

…

… What…?

“But…” Everyone turned to me. “You… don’t look anything like her…?”

The blonde scoffed, and turned back to his food. “Well, obviously not through blood. Only a dimwit would assume that. We, however, have decided to be twins due to the simple fact that we are polar opposites: I, a child of the light, and she, the daughter of true darkness. Very poetic, and besides, she agreed to it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense…” Bea mumbled through the mashed potatoes she was eating.

 _And I’m pretty sure she only went along with it to get you off her back,_ were the unspoken words the rest of the class shared.

“Don’t care.” And with that, Charles began eating once more, the rest of the table silenced by that little conversation. Minutes later, we found ourselves assigning – guess who – the SHSL Swimmer, Kyle, and the SHSL Ornithologist, Aisley, to dishwashing duty, while the rest of us rearranged our chairs.

**KYLE JATULAN – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SWIMMER**

Although he doesn’t look like it, Kyle’s an Olympic-level swimmer. He had to fight his way up to the Super High School Level title, however – there were two other candidates, but lucky for him, he won the title fair and square. He’s a nice kid, certainly, and a little bit on the small side too, so I guess I can understand why he called Ina a midget. Kyle’s won various gold medals in swimming competitions, and only once has he ever won a silver medal – hell, that time, the judges made a _mistake_ , and the silver medal was given to him instead! But he kept the silver medal, and gave the gold one to his competitor back then, saying that he deserved it more than he did. The poor competitor cried his heart out back then, by the way.

**AISLEY PONDEVIDA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ORNITHOLOGIST**

If you knew Aisley, you probably wouldn’t have guessed that her secret talent was being a great bird watcher, identifier, classifier, and… yeah. She doesn’t like ornithology, apparently, but she really didn’t feel any pride in her other talents either, so she took up ornithology, and discovered that she had a secret talent for it. If you showed her a parakeet that was dressed up as another bird, she’d probably be able to notice, and if you took two different birds that looked exactly alike and showed it to her, she’d be able to identify the differences.

All was quiet for a while. Aisley was humming a little tune while washing the dishes, while Kyle was drying off the dishes in his own little way. I thought the silence would last a little while longer, but I was apparently wrong again.

“Helloooo~!”

A hand flew to Dave’s face. A facepalm.

Monocat leapt onto the table, purring. “So, Day 1 of this beautiful High School of Mutual Killing, and yet there aren’t any murders happening? Nyaaa, that is soooo borriiiiingggg~!!! I could die of boredom right here!”

“That’d be excellent.” Dara muttered under her breath.

“We… we’re not going to kill each other, okay?” I stated as calmly as I could, although my breaths were slowly becoming ragged. “No matter what you say… we won’t harm each other…”

“Well, sure, I supawse you won’t…” Monocat shrugged, before smiling even wider than before. “But that’s because I haven’t introduced a motive to you bastards yet, nyaaa~!”

_Motive?_

Bonn slammed his fist on the table, startling everyone. “Whaddaya mean, motive, eh?”

“Before I forget, I have a little movie for each of you!” Monocat continued, as if she didn’t hear Bonn. “I’ve left little copies in each of your rooms, headphones, and a laptop for each of you to watch it on, so don’t you fret, my little pets~! That laptop also has a little chat function, in case you want to talk to someone in another room late at night.”

Bea crossed her arms and looked down thoughtfully. “… Alright, we’ll play along with your little game, Monocat. But I have a question that you have to answer.”

“Hmm?” Monocat peered at her curiously. “What is it?”

Bea looked up. “Who are you, exactly? What do you want? And why do you want us to do this?”

“…” The two colored cat pondered this for a moment before purring. “I only want despair, you see. I want the mother of insanity, the lover of suffering, and the best friend of death. And only you guys can give me that~!”

…

“And besides, it’s fun watching you little worms scrabbling around looking for clues without my lovely interference~!” Monocat giggled into her paws before waving. “Goodbye for now…!!!” And with that, she disappeared back under the table.

Aisley sighed. “She’s gone again… and I’m still really confused! Ugh, why does she have to be so cryptic?!”

“You’re just not reading into her words correctly.” Justine mumbled, tugging at the long sleeved part of his clothes. “She just said she won’t interfere with investigations.”

Aisley’s eyebrow rose. “Really?”

“Really.”

Dara mumbled something along the lines of ‘stupid’ and ‘let’s get things over with’. At least, that’s what I think she said; she was speaking so softly I couldn’t really hear her that well. “Well guys, maybe you should all go to your rooms and fetch the laptops and DVDs.”

“Why?” Daenna turned to her, confused. “Can we not watch the movie in our own rooms?”

The SHSL Leader shrugged. “I just thought that the best thing to do would be to watch the movies altogether, so that we know what everyone is doing. It’s best that we stick together so that we will become aware of everyone faster. Also, I’m sorry, but I need to keep an eye on all of you.”

“No need for apologies, Dara.” A girl with pretty red hair smiled in the Leader’s direction. “We understand.”

**JOAN SETIAS – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL DANCER**

If you’re looking for a really great dancer, then Joan’s your girl. Her petite figure and gentle face make for quite the classical dancer, but in all actuality she can dance many things. She’s won awards for her hip hop dancing, she’s been a prima ballerina since the age of five, and she’s the most recommended teacher for classical ballroom dancing – the only problem is, she’s always booked. Her fan page shows various videos of her various dance styles with her in various costumes, but people choose to watch the real thing because hey, the real thing beats videos any day.

Bea grinned and flashed Dara a thumbs up. “We’ll be back in a few minutes, ‘kay? No need to worry!”

“Okay…” Dara smiled, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding as I walked back to my room. Why, though…?

What was going to happen?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Minutes later, we managed to bring all of the laptops and discs into the canteen. Turns out, Monocat wasn’t kidding; everyone, and I do mean _everyone_ , had their own laptops. And discs too, but that probably doesn’t matter. We were probably watching the same thing, anyway.

Initially, Eugene had suggested sitting in our own places, but Arfel had countered it, saying that we could sit anywhere and any way we wanted, just so long as we were in the line of sight of at least three students, and Dara had agreed to it, so it was the guideline we had followed. I was sitting with my back against the far right wall, with Mika and Charles sitting back to back with each other a few feet away, their laptops on their laps, and headphones around their necks. Aiel was almost sitting right next to me, being at least a few inches away from me at most, while Dave was sitting… in reverse, apparently: his legs were on the wall and his body was on the ground. I’d describe it properly but I don’t know how, so bluh, bluh, he’s sitting on the wall. Taking the disc out of the case, I slipped it into the player before putting on my headphones. Soon, a semi-familiar tune played…

And then, my heart stopped for five whole seconds.

In the video…

… Were my parents.

“Marc, dear, I’m so proud of you!” My mother and father were sitting on the couch, smiling at me. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of happiness because hey, I kind of missed them. It’s only been a few hours, but I missed them. My mom clasped her hands together. “Just don’t overexert yourself, okay? Don’t make me and your father worry!”

My dad looked happy too, except he was keeping it in more. “You will make me proud, won’t you? Be the best student you can be, Marc.” And then, the two chorused, “We love you, Marc!”

 _Mom… Dad…_ The warm feeling spread throughout my entire body, but along with that… came a feeling of foreboding once more. If this was a regular school, this wouldn’t be the end of the video, would it? It’s too… normal.

Man, I hate it when I’m right.

The video soon glitched, and I blinked, before gaping in horror when the picture changed. Instead of my parents sitting on the couch, smiling at me… I saw a picture… of the couch ruined, and torn… the curtains ragged, the glass in the window behind the sofa broken… basically, the whole house was _totaled_.

“N-no…” I slammed the laptop shut. Well, I didn’t _slam_ it – more like forcefully closed it. I placed it next to me, sliding the headphones off of my ears, before feeling my heart race. _Was that video… r-real…? And if it was… oh god, mom… dad…_

“N-no… no…!!!”

“Aiel?!” Looking up, I watched as Aiel ran out of the canteen, her laptop and headphones abandoned on the floor, her mangled sobs ringing through the air. I stood up hurriedly, running after her, while the others reacted to her crying moments later.

Aiel fled to the hallway outside of the dormitories, still crying, with me hot on her heels and the others hot on mine. I grabbed her wrist just as she reached for the doorknob on her dorm’s door.

“Aiel, calm down, please!” I tried to reason with her, my grip on her wrist firm. “Please, Aiel, tell me what’s wro-“

“LET GO!” Aiel screamed, struggling. Pulling on her arm, she yelled, “LET ME GO, I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!”

I yelled right back at her, “You’re never going to get out of here if all you’re gonna do is scream at me, Aiel! Listen to me, calm the hell down-“

“NO!” The pink-haired girl’s eyes glared viciously at me, and I could feel the fear, distrust and confusion radiating off of her in waves. Figures; the SHSL Friend would be the most emotional. “I-I need… I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! M-my… m-my family…!!!”

Grabbing her other wrist, I pinned Aiel to the wall, while the girl squirmed and screamed in protest. “Aiel, LISTEN TO ME! Remember what I said before?! You shouldn’t lose hope! For all we know that video is a fake! Don’t be reckless!”

“…” Aiel wore a look of shock on her face as the others ran into the hallway, seeing the two of us. They stopped, watching us, while I said quietly, “I know… what you’re feeling right now, Aiel… but please, for your sake… for everyone’s sake… don’t do anything stupid… please…”

…

And then… “… sniff…” Aiel’s whole body shuddered, and soon, I found myself holding onto Aiel, who sobbed loudly into my jacket, her tears staining it dark green. The others stood, unsure of what to do, their own looks of horror on their faces. Or… were they… looks of… despair…? As if to answer my question, Monocat’s cackling rang throughout the whole hallway, and I looked up at the nearest screen in the hallway. The cat was twirling a martini glass filled with god knows what, a vicious smile on her face.

“So, did you enjoy my movie~?” She asked innocently before laughing loudly again.

The anger that blazed through me was unmistakeable. I really, _really_ wanted to murder that stupid robot cat.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**37/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	6. Song of the Heart: (Ab)Normal Days - Spread A Melody Of Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which more free time is generously used. Seriously, aren't you guys sick of me describing chapters yet?

**[01: SONG OF THE HEART – (AB)NORMAL DAYS – SPREAD A MELODY OF CALM]**

**2:30PM**

Did I mention that I was bored yet? Well, now I just did. I am definitely bored.

After that whole motive fiasco, I had to help calm Aiel down with a few reassuring ‘pap’s – Mika’s idea. Apparently, patting someone’s face softly and repeatedly with the palms of your hands sends calming shivers down your spine, according to her. Well, not really according to her – I reworded her more… let’s call it ‘creative’… description. It was something along the lines of “intoxicating” and… uh, let’s move on.

Honestly though, I was still pretty shaken; the fifty percent chance that my parents weren’t alive anymore gave me chills that cut to the bone. Add that to the fact that everyone else was shown almost the exact same video, except with _their_ families, and we’ve got ourselves one heck of a huge problem. It must’ve been really serious if even _Charles_ was spooked.

“That couldn’t have been real, could it?”

Speak of the Devil, and he shows up.

Looking up from my laptop, I watched as Charles and Bea walked past where I was sitting on the stage in the Amadome. Did I mention that I was in the Amadome? Did I mention that there was a _stage_ in the Amadome? Well, now I did. I was sitting on the edge of said stage, my laptop on my lap, and my headphones resting on my neck, alone. Prior to their arrival, however, a red-cloaked figure had passed by, flouncing about carelessly.

_-Flashback-_

_“Mrroooow…”_

_Looking up, my eyes focused on the one thing that was moving profoundly across my line of vision: a relatively short, red-cloaked figure, dancing carelessly and reciting various cat onomatopoeia, like ‘meow’ and’ rawr’ and the weirder ‘nyan’. Onomatopoeia is such a big word… but let’s not get off the topic here. My point is that there was someone reciting cat sounds in front of me and dancing._

_“Uhhh…?” I couldn’t form anything relatively comprehensible to the strange sight twirling in front of me. The cloak itself was a relatively dark shade of maroon, with golden curved point… things… decorating the almost-edges of the whole thing. It didn’t reach the floor; it actually reached only past the person’s knees, and atop the person’s head were two points that looked oddly enough like cat ears. Kinda explains the meows if you thought about it… for a few months._

_“Nya?” The person turned, and it was then and there that I noted that I really couldn’t see their face at all. AT. ALL. It was like completely obscured. Imagine a character in a cartoon of sorts wearing a cloak, and their whole face is covered in blackness, but their eyes and mouth still remain. Yeah, the person looked something like that. Except the person’s mouth was shaped almost like a cat’s, and the eyes looked to be almost permanently shut in a creepy manner… like a pair of crescent moons. Except these crescent moons were green and blue. “Oh, hello there, Marc!”_

_It took me a few moments to process what she – I realized she was a girl – said. When I did process it, however, I blinked and shook my head before replying, “Uh, hey… Jenita, right?”_

_“Mm-hmm.” The cloaked person nodded solemnly, rocking back and forth on her red heeled boots, a makeshift cat’s tail swinging from behind her._

**JENITA ROMUALDO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL FANGIRL**

 

_If I have to talk about impossible talents one more time I think I might go and punch myself, but I digress. Jenita’s talent is, you guessed it, fangirling. Or, to be more specific, being a fan. A true fan, might I add. See, some people consider fans as fans, while fans themselves only consider a few people to be true fans. Jenita is at least twenty notches above all of them. I guess if you’re a fangirl, that makes things easier for you, cause then you’d be fueled with a burning passion to do anything for a specific fandom._

_But anyway, like I said, she was staring at me a little too closely for comfort- what, I didn’t tell you that before? Well, now I did. Anyway, I squirmed a little as the girl came closer, the curves which represented her eyes turning into wide circles, brimming with curiosity. And suddenly…_

_… she unsheathed some claws and slashed in my direction._

_I did the only reasonable thing to do._

_I screamed like a bitch._

_-End Flashback-_

She didn’t hurt me then; she just giggled and told me she was practicing unsheathing and sheathing her claws because they were brand new and haven’t been really used yet. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be able to look at cats the same way again. But I digress.

Anyway, Bea looked up, and, spotting me, she smiled. “Oh, hey Marc! What’s up?”

“Hello.” Charles grumbled, haughtily pushing up his glasses again as Bea almost dragged him closer to my place. “Not that I’m not pleased to know that you’re not up to no good, but what are you doing here?”

I pointed at myself. “Me?”

“No, I meant the plant standing over there- YES I MEANT YOU.”

I raised my hands in self-defense. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I’ve been sitting here all alone, actually, just typing away at my laptop and doing all sorts of stuff. Did you know this laptop has a _lot_ of anime episode collections in the folders?”

“Mine has anime collections too.” Bea said, crossing her arms. “But what makes it really good is that it has my favorite games on it. It’s so excellent!”

The Translator sighed. “Mine’s got a steady flow of the latest Fairy Tail and Digimon episodes getting torrented, so I’m assuming Monocat knows I love Fairy Tail and Digimon. Though how she knows, I have no idea…”

I smiled weakly. I… guess that was good news? “So uh, what have you guys been up to lately? After that whole… video thing and all.”

“Nothing much, really.” Bea shrugged, and… uh, if we were in an anime, I think you would’ve heard a very, very faint _boing_ ing sound. I was probably hallucinating. “Want to join us on our way to the canteen? I heard there was going to be some sort of taste testing thing going on.”

“Yes, hosted by Ana and Andrea.” Charles waved his hand nonchalantly, as if dismissing the idea. “Apparently they’re taking advantage of the SHSL Gourmet’s presence and wish to fully utilize it to their advantage. Ana’s taking tips from Embu, while Embu is doing all she can not to best Ana at her own title’s game while making things a lot more colorful with her artist’s creativity.”

… “Did you just call her Embu?”

“Did I?” For a moment, Charles looked utterly confused. For a moment, he didn’t look like himself at all; he looked like a confused, bewildered, blonde-haired teenage boy. For a _moment_. Soon enough, however, he composed himself, and declared, “It’s a much easier name to recite than Andrea, what with the many different Andreas I’ve met all over the world. That’s not counting the many ways I can write Andrea in different languages and dialects.”

Bea sweatdropped. “Riiiight… so, Marc, are you coming?”

“Sure, I guess.” Hopping off the stairs, I unplugged the earphones and tucked the laptop under my arm snugly before following the two to the canteen, where, surprisingly, most of the others had gathered. Jenita was there too; talking with the redhead I mentioned before as the SHSL Therapist, Rosemary.

**ROSEMARY OBNIAL – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL THERAPIST**

I’ve already told you about Rosemary, haven’t I? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I have.

Anyway, when I approached the thing the others were circling, I saw an odd and rather welcome sight; there were so many pastries and delicacies dotting the table. My mouth watered slightly at the sight, and my heart sank when a rather cheerful looking boy took some cake and sampled it. Oh, it was the SHSL Gourmet. No wonder.

**NATHAN CORDERO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL GOURMET**

Being a gourmet is no easy task, I can tell you that much. Nathan could probably tell you that too; and tell you to add a few more fancy words and make you garnish your sentences with foreign phrases. Nathan’s just like that. Well, actually, he’s not very much like that at all. He’s like a huge, fluffy teddy bear that enjoys good cuisine and knows the difference between two different kinds of spices that looked and tasted alike. That’s a good description of him, yes.

I should probably tell you about Embu, too.

**ANDREA EMBUSCADO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ARTIST**

 

Like I said, Andrea was a shoo-in for at least _three_ different titles – Singer, Baker, and Artist. However, they gave her the SHSL Artist title only because they wanted room for more talented students with different personalities, hence James and Ana. If James had become the SHSL Artist though, Andrea would’ve really been the best Singer there is – according to her fanpage, her voice can reach octaves unknown to man! She’s really that amazing.

Oh, and um, if you’re wondering about Reymon’s double titles, that’s because nobody else wanted the position of Archer. They gave both to him only because he was really good at both and while there were lots of possible Scientists and Archers, none of them wanted the position (some of the Archers went to become Sharpshooters and Snipers while some Scientists went to become the scientists of the more far-off branches like herpetology and stuff like that.)

Alright, let’s get back on topic here.

“Oh, hey there Marph!” Nathan greeted through all the cupcakes in his mouth. How he managed to fit them all, I have no idea. But he did it. “Want a cupcake? You’ll have to tell me whishwan though, they’re all really uniquely different from eashother!”

I picked up two cupcakes, examining them side by side. They looked… exactly alike. Biting into both of them, they tasted exactly alike too… “Uh… how are these two different?”

“Easy!” Nathan took the two cupcakes from me and took a bite from one, closing his eyes and… presumably savoring the taste. Then, he took a bite from the other one and savored the flavor as well before chiding me, “See, they both look and taste like red velvet, but this one has a bit more of a strawberry tang to it, whereas this other one is more on raspberry.”

What the hell?! “H-how can you even- oh, that’s right, you’re a freaking gourmet.” God dammit. I slapped my forehead in exasperation as Nathan laughed good-naturedly, patting my shoulder. “That’s okay; you’ll learn the difference as you go on eating and tasting different foods.”

“Still can’t figure out the difference between a blackberry and a blueberry cupcake…” I glanced at the thinner boy sitting next to him, staring intently at two similar cupcakes, except one had a blueberry on top, and the other had a blackberry. “I’m pretty much just here for the free food, but I want to know the difference too.”

**ARVIN CUEVAS – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BASKETBALL STAR**

Basketball Star Arvin is pretty much the best player the Philippines has ever seen. With skills nearly surpassing those of Kobe Bryant’s, he’s a shoo-in too – for the next top player who’s only around what, 14 or 15? Although, I’m pretty sure I remember him taller… don’t know why though; he already looks pretty tall and lanky like Reymon, except Reymon looks more… what’s the word? Oh yeah; stoned. Arvin’s fan page says that he’s got a fondness for one of the SHSLs in this very room, but I have absolutely no clue who it could be. Maybe they were just rumors.

Nathan groaned. “Seriously, Arvin, you must learn to appreciate the wonders of fine cuisine _sooner or later!_ I swear, sometimes you’ve got your head too much in your game!”

“ _You gotta get your, get your head in the game,”_ Aisley hummed cheerfully from the sidelines. Ellianna elbowed her side, and the girl winced, whining, “Whaaaat? It was appropriate!”

Arvin rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Aisley.”

“Noooo, shut uuuup,” I blinked as Nathan suddenly started smothering Arvin with what appeared to be bear hugs. Or he was probably trying to squeeze the air out of Arvin. Either worked fine. “You can’t sass anything worth shit, Arvin, noooooo-“

Arvin’s face was slowly turning blue. “Na- na-than-! C-can’t b-breathe!!!”

“Come on, Nathan, let him go.” Turning, I watched as Bea gently pried Nathan off the sputtering and wheezing basketball player, who shakily stood up and left the table, latching onto my arm while taking in some needed air in long, drawn out gasps. Bea tsked, flicking Nathan’s nose before chiding, “Nathan, you can annoy people as much as you want, but you have to remember you have the unending potential to crush someone’s spinal cord to oblivion.”

I think my face paled at the thought. “Yeaaaaah… that was pretty straightforward.”

“What can I say?” Bea shrugged. “I may speak straight, but I’m pretty sure I go both ways.”

Charles’s face flared red, and I snickered, picking up on the not so hidden meaning behind her words. Bea’s smile was lighthearted, but it had a teasing sort of look to it, like she was taunting someone with them. Probably Charles. He looked like he was the brunt of her inside jokes about sexualities… at least that’s what I think. I’m probably not thinking straight.

Hey, maybe I was just high, and this whole High School of Mutual Killing thing is a product of my weird-ass fantasies. Contemplating, I stared at my hands for a few moments, before I balled up one of them and punched my face.

“Marc, what the hell?!” I was thankful for Rosemary’s steady hand when I nearly toppled from my own punch. Surprising, really; Rosemary didn’t look like the one to have enough physical strength to support someone like me. “Why’d you punch yourself?!”

I grinned lopsidedly at her. “I thought I was high on marijuana and I thought I imagined the whole High School of Despair thing up, so I punched myself to try and wake myself up.”

…

… That sounded _waaaaay_ better in my head.

“… You need to take a nap, Marc.” Mika deadpanned. “A really long nap.”

Yeah, a nap sounded great right about now.

**37/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't much of a FTE, HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA


	7. Song of the Heart: End of (Ab)normal Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is FINALLY some action.

**[01: SONG OF THE HEART – END OF (AB)NORMAL DAYS]**

**10:00PM**

_Knock knock… knock knock…_

“Huh?” Looking up from my laptop – I had been chatting with Arah, who was only a few rooms away, but I didn’t want to disturb her roommate -, I listened to the faint knocking sound coming from the direction of my door. Who would be up at this hour? Well, there was me, and Arah, but we didn’t count. And besides, it was already Night Time. Dara had made sure that everyone was in their rooms at this hour…

Typing a hasty good night to Arah, I stood up and headed for the doorway, opening the door to find… what the- “Aiel?”

“M-Marc…” The carnation haired girl looked frightened; her arms were wrapped protectively around her, and her whole frame was shaking. She wasn’t in her pajamas, strangely enough. “C-can I come in?”

Blinking, I attempted to process what she just said. “… Uh, sure?”

With that, Aiel went inside my room, sitting down on my bed as I closed the door, still unsure of her presence. What was she doing here, wandering alone in the hallways? What about her roommate, Ana? “Aiel, what’s wrong? What are you doing here?”

“I-I heard…” Aiel’s lip quivered as I sat down next to her, attempting to get comfortable. “I heard… something outside… of our door… just a while ago…”

“Something?”

Her pink eyes darted to the sides nervously. “It looked like… somebody was trying to get in… I-I’m scared, Marc… w-what if they break in? What if they wanted… to get to me o-or Ana? T-that’s…” She bowed her head down, and for a few seconds, I was back to comforting the SHSL Friend as she shook in place, eyes watering.

“H-hey, maybe you can stay here for the night…?” I offered semi-casually. The girl looked up, an eyebrow raised, and I blushed, suddenly realizing the implications of what I just said. “N-no, I didn’t mean it like that…!”

Aiel chuckled sadly, wiping away the forming tears in her eyes. “I-I know… but… Monocat stated that… switching roommates was not allowed, right?”

“Well, yeah…” I pulled out my Student ID and opened up the rulebook. “But, technically, you’re not switching roommates with me, and neither is Ana, right? We’re switching rooms for the night, not roommates, and besides, technically I don’t have a roommate!”

The Friend sniffled. “I-I guess that’s true… but, are you okay with that? Sleeping on the same bed next to A-ana, I mean…?”

“We’ll be fine, I promise.” I smiled reassuringly. “If push comes to shove, I’ll sleep in the bathtub or on the floor.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Minutes later, I found myself standing outside the room three rooms to the left of mine, where Aiel was currently residing, in nothing but my pajamas. The room she and Ana shared. With a gulp, I put the key she traded with me into the lock, and opened the door, to find…

… funny, Aiel didn’t tell me Ana liked curling up in a ball on the bed, wrapped in blankets.

“… Ana?” Closing the door and locking it behind me, I approached the girl, who squeaked and retreated further into the blankets, obviously terrified. I sat down on the bed next to her, placing a hand on what I assumed was her back; she was so wrapped up in blankets she looked like a caterpillar. “Ana, are you okay? What’s going on?”

Ana’s pupils were the size of pinheads. “Y-you shouldn’t have… t-traded rooms with Aiel…”

“Huh?” What was she talking about? “What do you mean I shouldn’t have traded rooms with Aiel?”

The Baker squeaked again, hiding her face in the sheets she wrapped herself up in. “I-I heard her… i-in the bathroom…! She was… muttering a-and talking about how she h-had to get out of h-here… a-and s-she muttered to herself that s-she w-would do… a-anything…!”

“…” _What…?_ “Ana, I’m pretty sure Aiel wouldn’t do such a thing. She’s a nice girl.”

Ana nervously tugged on her ponytail. “Y-yeah, b-but I h-heard her…!”

“Look,” I gave Ana a reassuring smile, which seemed to make her deflate a little and calm down. Good. “Aiel wouldn’t do anything like that, you know that. She wouldn’t hurt anyone she considered her friend, right?” When Ana nodded, I continued, “We should both get some sleep, and hopefully, the creeper who was knocking on her door will stop stalking her for tonight.”

“H-hopefully…” And with that, I slid into the bed, careful not to make contact with Ana, who inched into place and let go of one of the blankets wrapping her for me, which I accepted gratefully. God, this place was cold. I felt like an Eskimo. I switched off the lights on the lamp on the table, and once my head hit the pillow, I was out cold.

In my dreams, however, I could hear a recurring voice whispering something.

_T-there wasn’t anyone knocking at our door a while ago…_

_… A-aiel was…_

_… lying…_

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 The next morning, I felt very refreshed.

Ana was still sound asleep, so I tiptoed out of the room, and snuck back into mine. Surprisingly enough, it was open; Aiel must’ve already gone out or something. I changed out of my pajamas with a smile, patting the Shiny Ralts plush sitting on my desk. Aw, the little guy looked hopeful. Maybe I’d give it to Aiel; she looked like the type who liked cute things in little dress things.

When I arrived at the canteen, there were already a few people there. The early birds, as usual. I took a seat at my usual place, and, after a few minutes, everyone filed in, minus Bismarck, and a select few. When Bismarck finally ran in, we waited a little more for the others who weren’t here yet, until finally, Mika arrived, yawning and braiding a part of her hair.

“All right, that’s everyone!” Eugene stood up and put his hands on the table. “Now, why don’t we-“

Suddenly, a hand shot up. Ina’s. “Uh, no, we’re still missing someone.”

“Who?” Dave asked her skeptically.

Aisley made a headcount. “… No, scratch that; we’re missing three people.” With a yawn, the ornithologist began counting off. “Let’s see… we already have Marc and Dave and White Haired Shota and Nathan and-“ As she rattled off names, I couldn’t help but feel a bit… anxious. Like something was about to happen. “… aaaaand we have Bismarck. We’re currently missing the following people then:”

“Hunny,” A pretty looking girl turned to the seat next to her worriedly.

“Arfel,” Bonn harrumphed, turning away from the seat next to him.

“And Aiel.”

_Aiel._

_Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel. Aiel._

Aiel’s name bounced off the sides of my brain as I stood up hurriedly, knocking over her chair. Bea looked up at me, confused. “Marc…?”

“I-I’m gonna go check on them…!” And with that, I ran out of the canteen, heading towards the dorms. _No… Aiel, where are you…?! Please tell me you just left the door open on purpose, please tell me you just left the door open on purpose…_ After five minutes of searching, I deduced that no, Aiel was not on the first floor. Nor was she in the Amadome, or anywhere else. Which meant… she was probably somewhere on the second, third, or fourth floors…

But why…?

I ran upstairs, my breath coming out in ragged gasps. Man, that was a workout. But I kept on going, until I reached the fourth floor, where I began to search the rooms for any traces of Aiel, or Arfel, or Hunny. Aiel was my priority, though; she _had_ slept in my room. I decided that it would be better – for both the search and for my health – if I started at the top floor; it takes less out of you if you run _down_ the stairs, you know. Going up the stairs is going to kill me one day.

Opening what had been labeled Room 401, I didn’t really find anything, aside from lots and lots of stacked papers and books. I could tell the others about this later, but for the time being, I had to look for Aiel, or Arfel and Hunny. Oh god, where could they be?

When I exited the room, however, I noticed something… odd. There was an odd trail of… _something_ … leading to Room 402 – the room next door. Did I dare to…?

_Click!_

You can probably guess what I did.

“Aiel…?” Okay, it was probably a long shot, but it was still worth a sho-

I froze in my tracks, staring. The trail I had followed led to a pool of the same substance, which was…

I looked……. At…. The pool of…

 

It slowly registered in my mind that Aiel was slumped against the wall, lifeless, with what looked like a chair leg protruding from the center of the blue peace sign on her shirt, surrounded in b-b-bl-BLOO-

I couldn’t take it. I blacked out.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_Marc!_

_Marc, wake up!_

_I’ll handle this… WAKE UP, YOU LAZY ASSHAT!_

“Aaaagh!” I sat upright at lightning speed, only to bump heads with… what the- Mika?! “Owww… what the hell, Mika?!”

“Good god, you could’ve warned me you were going to sit up like that…” The Dark Magician rubbed her forehead grumpily, standing up and moving away as Bea came into my line of sight. “Oh, good, you’re awake, Marc… we thought you were a goner.” She held a hand out to me, and I gladly took it, standing up. Apparently, Mika had been hovering over me, trying to wake me up. At least, that was my guess; why else would she have bumped heads with me aside from my idiocy and hardheadedness?

“Where…” Looking around, I realized that I was in the Amadome, with the rest of the class, looking unnaturally grim. We were… missing three people. “Where are A- I mean… Arfel and Hunny…?”

The telltale flash of glasses from the corner of my eye told me that Charles had pushed up his glasses, _again_. “Shall I tell him, then?”

“Better now than never.” Arah sighed.

The Translator sighed as well before stating plainly, “Arfel Catipay, Hunny Laurente, and Aiel Pardilla are dead.”

Dead.

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead-

“We found Arfel and Hunny’s bodies not long after we hauled your butt down here.” Rosemary placed a hand on her hip as she closed her eyes in contemplation. “Do you… want to see them? I can accompany you, if you want to.”

_“No need for that, nyaaaa~!!!”_

I narrowed my eyes as a giant screen emerged from the stage, and Monocat’s face flashed right before our eyes. “ _Because I am a very helpful little kitty cat, I can show beautiful candids of the dead bodies to those who haven’t seen the bodies themselves, or are too afraid to see them~!”_ Monocat clapped her paws together gleefully, and before our eyes, a little slideshow played.

**BODY #1: ANDRIELLA PARDILLA**

**FOUND IN: MAIN BUILDING, 4 TH FLOOR, ROOM 402**

A picture of Aiel’s cold and lifeless body was displayed on the screen. Well, honestly, I had no idea if it was just a picture, because the whole thing was shaking and Monocat was playing some scary background sound effects or something. It started with the whiteboard, then the camera shook some more as it focused on Aiel’s face, before trailing down to what looked like a chair leg sticking out of the center of the blue peace sign on her shirt and then finally finishing with the whole picture of her, slumped against the wall, blood stains everywhere. If it wasn’t so freaking terrifying, I would’ve said that she was on her period or something.

I couldn’t breathe.

**BODY #2: ARFEL CATIPAY**

**FOUND IN: MAIN BUILDING, 2 ND FLOOR, BIOTECHNOLOGY ROOM**

What I saw with Arfel’s body made me shudder.

The picture – video? GIF? Whatever! – was blurry at first, but I could make out the tables in the Biotechnology room. It was focused on something on one of the tables that I still couldn’t understand… until the picture grew clearer. It was… a human heart on a dissecting pan. It was probably a video, because I _could still see the heart weakly pulsating_.

I heard frantic screams from Ana as the picture zoomed out to reveal Arfel’s body lying face down on the floor, a gaping hole on his back, and blood pooling around him. The Otaku’s face was facing away from the camera, his hands spread out, and his fingers looked like they would be bloodstained for life. Beside him was what looked like a really rusty scalpel – why the hell would there be a scalpel in a school, I have no idea (maybe Monocat planted it there) – and a syringe.

I couldn’t speak.

**BODY #3: HUNNY LAURENTE**

**FOUND IN: MAIN BUILDING, 2 ND FLOOR, GIRL’S BATHROOM**

The last body, belonging to Hunny, was found in the girl’s bathroom on the second floor. The photo, like Arfel’s, focused on something else first, and in this case, it was the broken mirror in the bathroom. I honestly had no idea there was a bathroom on the second floor, and apparently the other boys had no idea too, because they looked just as confused as I did. Except for a select few, of course. There would always be a select few. But that’s beside the point. The mirror was shattered in so many places it was unrecognizable. The camera soon panned down to the sink, where water was slowly collecting in the nearest sink. The water also had an unmistakable tinge to it; it was mixed with blood.

The camera soon panned to the trail of blood next to the sink, and then…

Hunny’s body was like Arfel’s – slack against the floor, but this time she was facing upwards, which gave us a really horrifying view of her face. Her eyes, which we now recognized as something of a Prussian blue, were wide open, the remnants of what looked like trails that tears would make trailing down the sides of her face. Like Arfel and Aiel, she had been targeted near the heart too – she was surrounded by glass shards from the mirror, and said broken shards were used to stab her near the heart in a jagged oblong pattern. There was a cloth thing tied around her mouth, so we couldn’t see her mouth, but her EXO necklace was broken and separated into three pieces next to her head, the actual string nowhere to be found.

I couldn’t understand.

T-this was…

W-why…

I took a step backwards as Monocat cackled gleefully. “Now weren’t those beautiful pictures~? They’re perfect examples of despair-inducing portraits!” With a flick of her tail, the two-toned cat twirled around in her little office chair before continuing, “Ahhh, I can feel your despair, even from over here~! It’s so delicious to see you all in despair!”

“Despair…” Mika mumbled quietly, crossing her arms before staring defiantly at Monocat. “Is that all you want?”

In response, the huge screen turned off, and returned to its original place inside… the stage, apparently, while a Monocat walked out from behind a nearby column. I eyed the robot cat venomously as it clambered up the stage, brushing off the dirt that collected on its apparently synthetic fur. “What was your question again, my little darling~?”

“I asked: is ‘delicious’ despair the only thing you really want?” Mika stated, moving forward. “That’s a really dumb reason to set us up here in a high school of mutual killing.”

Monocat yawned. “Despair is a very beautiful concept. You just don’t understand this yet, my darlings~! Once you all get down and dirty and kill everyone, you’ll understand my point of view!”

“But that still doesn’t make this whole thing right!” Bea insisted, pushing forward as well, standing side by side with Mika. “I mean, three of our friends just got killed in one night, and you call that a beautiful concept?!”

Purple and black crackled at Mika’s fingertips. “I don’t want to participate in your stupid killing game anymore, Monocat. I-“

“Ah, ah, ah~!” Monocat tut-tutted, waving a paw at each of us in turn. “I haven’t explained the rules yet~! Now that we’ve got a murder on our hands, we can finally hold the most important event in this magnificent high school of mutual killing: the class trial!”

Class… trial?!

A slightly taller boy with obnoxiously flippant orange hair pushed forward as well. “Wait, are you saying that we don’t just have to kill someone to get out of here?!” Who was he again? I seem to have forgotten…

“Raffy, get back here!” Dara tugged on the taller boy’s arm, bringing him back to his original spot next to her and Joan. Oh, right. Rafael.

**RAFAEL CRUZ – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TRENDSETTER**

 

If you’re part of the crowd who likes to follow the latest trends, then I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Raffy. Things like hashtagging, and the supposed ‘doge’ trend? Others may have taken claim on its origin, but it all just gets traced back to Rafael. Supposedly; I’ve never been one to check. Rafael’s a really nice guy though; he doesn’t care if other people take credit for his trends. He just wants everyone to do what they wanna do, be who they wanna be. They don’t need to follow his trends, he says, but everyone follows anyway. The little shits.

“Obviously.” Justine mumbled, pulling out his Student ID card and tapping on the School Rules tab, swiping to one rule and showing it to us. “It says in rule thirteen that someone who kills a fellow student will supposedly graduate, but nobody should figure out that they are the culprit.”

Monocat cheered. “Yes, yes, yes, my darling~! You are absolutely cooooorreeeect~! This is why we’re going to hold a class trial! Following a brief period of investigation, we will hold said class trial in the courtrooms I constructed!”

“… Exactly _where_ are these courtrooms?” I asked tentatively.

The cat huffed. “I’m not telling you _now_ , of course! However, I will explain to you the basics of holding class trials, for your benefit~!”

“Here’s the thing, you see,” Monocat purred, walking back and forth on the stage. “You bastards gather clues about the murders, and once a certain amount of time has passed, we will have the school trial. If you all can guess who the murderer is by the end of the trial, all of you will remain alive and trapped inside the school, while the person who ruined the peace will be rightfully punished~! However, if you don’t manage to guess it correctly, you will all be punished in place of the peacebreaker, and the culprit will go free~! It’s that easy, folks~!”

The pretty girl that sat next to Hunny at mealtimes placed her hands on her hips. “And just what do you mean by ‘punished’, huh?”

**SHANAYAH LORENZO – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL MODEL**

Shanayah’s face has been on the cover of many fashion magazines ever since she was a little girl. She’s modeled all sorts of stuff – be it frilly dresses in lovely pastel colors, form-fitting cocktail dresses, or even classic Victorian dresses. They all look absolutely wonderful on her, but the more mature clothing – no, I mean the clothes that show off her figure, get your head out of the gutter – fit her the most. She’s just got the model look down pat.

“I meaaaaan, you’ll get executed, of course~!” Monocat chirruped.

… What?!

The cat strolled back and forth on the stage once more. “Oh, execution can happen in loads of ways. Electrocution, maybe! Ooh, or suffocation! Poisoning or torture? Oh, the pawsibilities are endless, nyaaaa~!!!” She then paused, contemplating. "Well, actually, I have executions already planned for each and every one of you, in case somebody murders somebody, y'know~? I had one for Arfel, Aiel and Hunny, but they just had to die, didn't they? Nyorooon~..."

“You’re… you’re a sicko!” I flinched as I felt darkness escape in invisible waves from Mika. I say invisible because damn, that girl is scary and she’s a freaking Dark Magician. The purple and black things that I noticed near her fingertips earlier were actually the beginnings of what appeared to be some sort of… I don’t know, maybe it was her form of psychokinesis? I have no idea. I’m dumb like that. “Because of your stupid mutual killing game, the SHSL Friend just got _killed_. Do you have _any_ idea how that will affect global relations?”

Monocat shrugged. “Meow, I don’t care. More despurr fur me~!”

“That’s it!” The girl flashed the middle finger at Monocat, and I whistled. Wow, she had some nerve. “I’m not participating in your stupid game anymore, you hear me? Touch me, and I will rip your two-toned ass to pieces!”

The cat onstage contemplated this. “Hmmm, your resistance… it is so despair-inducing, so admirable, nyaaa~!!! But I cannot let you break away, you know this, right, kupo? I must teach you a lesson!” Unsheathing her claws, Monocat hopped off the stage and approached Mika, growling menacingly, only… to be stepped on by said girl, who glared at the cat, her braids levitating slightly with her anger.

“You can’t stop me.” Mika hissed. “I will get out of here, and I will _not_ murder someone to get out. What do you have to say to that, huh, you annoying bi-colored cat?!”

Monocat chuckled. “You’ve furgotten something furry impurrtant, my dear~!” At this, Mika blinked, her braids falling back into place as she eyed the cat with scrutiny. “Have you forgotten that violence against the headmaster is furry much forbidden?”

“…!” Oh god.

“I call upon the powers of Hell itself~!” Monocat started flailing around under Mika’s foot. “Save me, Hades’s Flames~!”

…

…

“KYAAAAAAAH!!!”

We all recoiled as flames suddenly burst up all around Mika, oddly enough missing Monocat, who cackled and rolled away as the fire closed in on the Dark Magician, who continued to scream in pain. I couldn’t imagine what getting burned felt like; it must’ve been really, really agonizing.

“Somebody do something!” Charles yelled at us. “Get water, anything!!! Take off your clothes or something, just PUT OUT THE STUPID FIRE!!!”

Daenna whirled around and faced Monocat. “Stop this, Monocat! You didn’t need to do this to Mika, she didn’t mean to go against your… _rules_! Please, just turn off the fire!”

“Hmmm, I don’t know, she doesn’t look like she’s sorry yet.” Monocat mused before pulling out a switch and pressing a button. “Let’s turn up the heat, shall we?”

The flames grew in size, and soon, they engulfed Mika, the poor girl screaming in pain, although by then, her screams were garbled, as if she couldn’t breathe anymore. Nobody could do anything; we were too shocked to do anything about it. Monocat simply cackled in place, rolling around on the floor and laughing her stupid, two-toned ass off. Grrrr, that little shi-

Huh?

“Justine, what are you doing?!” Turning to my right, I watched as the Attorney sighed and brushed Rosemary off before jumping… jumping into the flames?! Was he fucking insane?! “Justine, you suicidal bastard, get back here!”

Dara glanced at each of us in horror. “What’s he trying to do, kill himself or something?!”

“No, I’m not.” Justine’s voice, although low, echoed throughout the whole Amadome as his silhouette appeared through the flames. “What I’m trying to do is to actually _do_ something instead of standing around looking like an idiot.” And with that, he jumped out of the flames, looking relatively unharmed – his hair looked fine enough, just covered in soot, and his clothes looked a little singed, but other than that he looked fine – and holding…!!!

“Holy shit.” Wilson summarized everyone’s thoughts right now at what Justine had just done.

In the Attorney’s arms was a badly burnt Super High School Level Dark Magician.

Mika looked barely recognizable; if not for the two long braids which remained relatively unharmed as well, we wouldn’t have known she was Mika at all. Her dress was burned almost to a crisp – it barely covered her thighs now, while her skin was red and blistered on some parts and charred black on other parts. Her eyes, once a vivid shade of violet, were a dull purple now, nearing black, as she attempted to keep herself awake whilst taking short, jagged breaths. At the tips of her fingers, purple and black magic still lingered, but they were close to nonexistent anymore.

“Somebody get her to the clinic, quickly!” It took me a while to realize that yes, it was Eugene who had just ordered that, and yes, she was still alive, but barely. It also took me a few moments to register that Justine had basically jumped into the fire and brought Mika out _barely scathed_. Barely. Scathed. That was amazing.

Justine nodded briskly, and, nodding to Rosemary, the two headed towards the clinic. At least, they were going to, until Rosemary paused in front of me and said, “Hey Marc, maybe you should come along too. You think you can be a little helpful?”

“Uh, sure?” I shrugged my shoulders helplessly, and Rosemary smiled, taking my wrist and dragging me along with her and Justine to the clinic, which happened to be near the entrance of the Main Building, surprisingly enough. Justine placed Mika’s badly burnt body on one of the beds in the clinic as Rosemary dug through various medical supplies, searching for burn ointments and things like that. Me? I was attempting to get to Mika.

“Uh, hey, Mika?” I started, trying to focus on her face. Her eyes rolled in my direction, which meant she heard me. “I don’t know what to do, honestly, so uh, I guess I’ll just be here to provide moral support? I’ve never been very helpful, sorry…”

 _Clunk!_ “Owww!!!” Something small and hard hit the back of my head, and I winced, turning around and picking it up. Burn ointment? I looked up at Rosemary, who only shooshed me and gestured for me to apply it on Mika’s burns. Sighing, I opened up the little canister, and slowly began applying the ointment.

“That’s not going to do any good, you know.” Justine said, perching on the edge of the bed Mika was lying down on. “The burns are simply too harsh.”

Rosemary turned to him, eye twitching. If we were in an anime, I swear, she would’ve had a vein bulging near her forehead. “Yeah, the fire was really strong. Speaking of which, how did you manage to get out of that stupid fire unharmed? That was a really suicidal move on your part, you know, you idiot!”

“… I know a way we can save Mika.” Justine didn’t meet Rosemary’s gaze; he stared down at his shoes quietly as he added, “It’s risky, but if you guys will allow it, I’ll do it, although she might not appreciate the sentiment.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about… Justine…?”

“… I have two titles. One is SHSL Attorney…” Justine closed his eyes momentarily, and I crossed my arms, about to speak up, when suddenly, two red beams of light eradicated the nearest table. It took me a while to realize that they came from his eyes. “… and my other title is Super High School Level Cyborg.”

Super… High School Level… Cy… borg…?

Well, that kinda explains how he survived the fire. Kinda. And it kinda explains how he was able to carry Mika over to the clinic when she was probably twice or thrice his weight. Wait a minute, was he… “Are you implying that you’re going to turn Mika into a cyborg like you?!”

“Not necessarily a cyborg.” The boy sighed. “I would just technically replace the burnt parts of her body with synthetic skin, if Monocat provides me the right materials or if I find or make the materials myself. But, judging from the strength of the fire, and from what my inner thermometer is telling me, that fire gave her fourth to third degree burns. That would require me to replace parts of her that are _inside_ , like her muscles and bones.”

Rosemary looked troubled. “But… would that be enough to save her…? I mean, you did say they were fourth to third degree burns…”

“I think so.” Justine sighed again. “I’m sorry if it doesn’t save her, though. I’ll just need everyone’s approval or something…”

“Don’t worry; just save her.” I turned around, startled, as Dara leaned against the doorway, looking troubled herself. “I don’t want to lose another one of our classmates because of something like this.”

“Dara…” I felt my gaze soften as the SHSL Leader smiled warmly at each of us, her gaze softening as well when it landed on Mika.

Justine looked down, unsmiling. “Well, alright… if you’re sure, Dara.”

“When there’s a will, there’s a way, as the saying goes.” I told him, grinning cheerfully. “We can start investigations after we deal with this-“

_“NONONONONONO~!”_

I hissed involuntarily as Monocat appeared on a nearby screen, looking very agitated as she unsheathed her claws. “ _You CANNOT delay investigations, you bastards! Investigations are impurrtant and required and defurnitely much more important than trying to save a life, you know~?! It’s hopeless; Hades’s Flames have been a product of a SHSL Pyromaniac, which I effectively borrowed for this High School of Mutual Killing, and said Pyromaniac made sure these flames hurt like hell~!!!”_

“Well, we can’t disobey Monocat…” Rosemary shrugged and sighed. “Marc, we should probably go back.”

I resisted. “But what about Mika?!”

“Dara and Justine can facilitate the whole operation,” The Therapist muttered quietly, glaring at the Attorney – Cyborg? I don’t know anymore – from the corner of her eye, while said boy was still avoiding everyone’s gazes. “After all, we still need to bring justice to Arfel, Hunny and Aiel…”

That’s right… the three of them were dead.

We needed to bring justice to their murders by investigating. And I couldn’t do that while I was stuck in the clinic watching over a generally unresponsive Dark Magician. Sorry Mika, but Aiel needs me. Aiel, Arfel and Hunny need me and everyone else…

… to bring justice. Freedom, justice, and DEMOCRACY-

“… Are you having an internal monologue right now?” Rosemary asked skeptically, staring at me. “A _ridiculous_ internal monologue?”

… “Yes, yes I am.” Sue me. I was slowly going insane.

Did I mention the fact that if we got the killer wrong we would all get murdered and Justine and Dara’s attempts to remedy Mika’s burns would be all in vain? No? Well, now I just did.

I’m really, really starting to hate school right about now.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**[END OF (AB)NORMAL DAYS]**

**34/37 STUDENTS ALIVE (?)**


	8. Song of the Heart: Abnormal Days - Lay My Heart Out On A Silver Platter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which investigations are- are you kidding me this should be obvious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other words... I HATE WRITING INVESTIGATION CHAPTERS.

**[01: SONG OF THE HEART – ABNORMAL DAYS - LAY MY HEART OUT ON A SILVER PLATTER]**

**< INVESTIGATION START>**

When Rosemary and I got back to the Amadome, the others were still relatively unsettled, but they looked okay enough to start the investigation. Eugene was standing near the front, dictating things from his Student ID: the Monocat Files, according to Bonn, who walked up to the two of us as we walked closer. Everyone had it on their Student IDs, and, sure enough, when I looked at mine, there was a new tab: Monocat Files. It held information on the murders, basically the whos, the whats, the whens, the wheres. That’s basically it.

The victims are Arfel Catipay, Hunny Laurente and Aiel Pardilla.

The times of death varied, but they were all within the hour. All within 11 o’clock PM. Aiel died first, at 11:34, followed by Arfel at 11:39, and Hunny died last at 11:46.

The victims died at different places. Aiel, in Room 402, Arfel, in the Biotechnology room, and Hunny in the 2nd floor Main Building girl’s bathroom.

Causes of death varied. Aiel’s cause of death was a wound in the chest area made by a broken object. Arfel’s cause of death was the extraction of an internal organ while being overdosed by a pain number. Hunny’s cause of death was the repeated wounding of the area near the heart by small broken items.

That… was it. Nothing too helpful.

Monocat didn’t want things to be easy.

God. DAMN THAT CAT.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The first body we investigated belonged to Aiel.

I climbed the stairs wearily, Bonn, Nahangel and Ana climbing up with me. Actually, Ana didn’t want to go and investigate her roommate’s body, but she was pressured into it by Eugene and Dara because hey, she was her roommate, and she was aware of Aiel’s prior plans to her murder, so she had to go, whether she liked it or not. Dara didn’t actually want Ana to go either because she was terribly fragile, but she just made her go for the sake of everyone else’s lives.

Poor Ana.

When we reached Room 402, the real investigating began.

The four of us spread out throughout the room, investigating each and every corner of the room. Bonn took to searching the surroundings with Nahangel, while Ana just basically sat down and tried her hardest not to look at Aiel’s body. I, on the other hand, was diligently examining the victim.

“Hmm…” I mumbled to myself, looking at the blood. Judging from the way the stains were placed, it looked like Aiel had slumped against the whiteboard and had sunk down to the ground in a slump when she finally died. The blood on the wall meant that the cause of her death had pierced through her body.

“Hey, Marc!” Looking up, I watched as Bonn turned a chair upside down and showed it to me. One of the chair legs was missing…? I looked at the item protruding out of Aiel’s chest… it looked like a broken chair leg. Well, that explains it.

Nahangel mused, “So Aiel got murdered with a chair leg… very unconventional… but how did they manage to break this chair leg?” The Heir studied the upside down chair intently. “It’s made of metal as far as I’m concerned.”

“W-what if it w-was rusted o-over…?” Ana suggested timidly. “I-I mean, I read somewhere that s-some kinds of rust break metals… o-or make them fragile…”

Nahangel shrugged. “Perhaps the murderer took advantage of that? Perhaps they visited this room before Aiel did and found this chair with rusty legs, and decided to use that.”

“Maybe…” I muttered.

Turning back to Aiel, I noticed that her hands were visibly soaked in blood. The right hand had only one finger covered in blood while the whole palm was soaked, while the other had varying amounts of blood coating the fingers. However, the left hand’s pointer finger visibly had the most amounts of blood covering it. Strange.

“There’s something written on the wall…” Bonn grumbled, pushing Nahangel aside to kneel down beside me, his eyes narrowing at… whoa, I did _not_ notice that. “Huh? What does SOP mean?”

“SOP?” Nahangel stared at the blood on the wall before shaking his head. “It’s obviously SOT, Bonn. Can’t you read?”

Ana admitted, “W-well, it doesn’t look like either, actually… but what is its purpose, though…?”

“It’s a dying message, obviously.”

I flinched as a shadow loomed over me. Turning around, I saw two people standing over us; Charles and Bea. Charles was the one who had spoken, while Bea was staring at the letters with scrutiny. Charles continued, “Haven’t you seen that in some movies, victims leave dying messages to reveal who the culprit is?”

“But… SOP doesn’t really correspond to anyone, does it?” Ana mumbled, trembling. “U-unless it’s s-supposed to be S-sophia…”

Nahangel visibly flinched when Ana mentioned the name ‘Sophia’. I turned to him, confused. “Uh… Nahan… gel…?”

“… It might be… SOF…” The Heir stammered out, sweat beading at his forehead. “T-there are… t-two Sofias… in here…”

Bea continued to stare at the dying message as she replied, “No, it’s not Sofia. I’m certain of it.”

“How can you be so sure?” Charles turned to her, an eyebrow raised skeptically.

Bea shrugged, smiling. “Look at her position, you dummy. D’you really think that she’d have enough time to turn the fuck around and write SOP or SOF or SOT?”

“Well…” Charles had no reply to that. Ha. Sucker.

“And besides,” Bea straightened up – she had been bending down earlier (sorry I didn’t mention that) – and brushed herself off. “She wouldn’t want the murderer to see her writing their name on the wall, so she obviously must have written it in code.”

“R-right…” I stood up, but not before giving Aiel one last look. Aiel… “U-um, I should… probably go and investigate the other two with the others…”

Charles huffed, pushing up his glasses while Bea smiled gently. “Go ahead, Marc. We can continue the investigation up here on our own. It’s okay.”

“Thanks, Bea.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The second body we investigated belonged to Arfel.

The people who joined me this time were a guy whose name still escapes me, Andrea, and Reymon. The four of us – well, I climbed down, they climbed up – headed for the Biotechnology room, where Arfel’s body lay slack against the floor, motionless. His heart had already stopped beating on the dissection pan, and honestly, I don’t know if I should say thank goodness or not to that.

Best not say anything.

“According to the Monocat file, Arfel was overdosed with something.” Andrea mumbled, picking up the syringe sitting next to Arfel. “And, judging from this syringe, it was-“

“An overdose on anesthesia.“ Reymon finished, kneeling down and examining Arfel closely before rolling up one of Arfel’s sleeves. I didn’t really see anything aside from little dots of blood the- “These are stab marks from the syringe.”

I narrowed my eyes at Arfel’s arm, and sure enough, there were little holes where the blood was coming from. Good God, that was perceptive of Reymon. “I’m guessing that the culprit stabbed Arfel multiple times in the arm to get the anesthesia in faster?”

“Something like that, probably.” The other boy shrugged. I suddenly remembered his name.

**JOHN PAUL PEREZ – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL CHESSMASTER**

JP Perez is definitely one of the people who don’t look like their title. From what I read about him, he’s generally well-mannered and good-natured, and sometimes a little bit slow on the uptake, but he’s got a good heart. But seriously though; this guy’s capable of defeating twenty Chess Grand Masters all at once, if you just gave him a huge room and lots of chessboards. He’s simply too lazy to do so, and besides, according to his fan page, all he wants at the moment is a girl to call his own. Awww.

Back on topic.

Picking up the rusty scalpel, I glanced back and forth between the heart and the gaping hole on Arfel’s back. It’s kind of a miracle how I haven’t puked out yesterday’s lunch and dinner yet, after seeing all this blood. _Oh god I can see his lungs._

“Let me have a look at that scalpel, Marc.” Andrea ordered. Shrugging, I handed it over to her before examining Arfel’s heart. It looked… pretty much like every other human heart in existence. Not that I’d know what it looked like in reality; I’ve only seen pictures. Let me tell you though; IT’S DISGUSTING AS HELL. No offense to Arfel. Innards are just gross.

Reymon approached the heart as well, prodding it with… “Reymon, what the hell is that?!”

“It’s a stirring rod, obviously.” The boy deadpanned, as if he wasn’t poking a limp human heart dangerously with a long fragile glass object. “Found it in one of the shelves after following a long wire of sorts.”

 _A long wire?_ “Care to show me this ‘long wire’ of yours?”

“It’s right there, dumbass.” Reymon pointed to- _the long wire was right fucking there a few feet from Arfel’s body how could I have missed it?!_

I sighed. “Thanks.” And with that, I left the Scientific Archer to his own devices (aka left him to poke Arfel’s heart like a kid poking a bear) to check out said wire. Kneeling down, I picked it up, examining it from side to side before tracing it back to its source. The trash can?

Walking over while on my knees, I headed towards the trashcan and took a peek, expecting various animal guts inside. What I found, however, were headphones. Broken ones, at that; a part of the wire near the actual headphones was severed, and the copper inside was exposed and frayed. Huh. Strange. It looked like something sharp had cut through it and made a hole, kind of like how you can tear at rope with a butterknife and it never gets a clean cut; just frayed edges.

But what could possibly make such a messy cut with this sort of thing?

“Marc?” Turning around at Embu’s voice, I raised an eyebrow as she asked, “We’ll take it from here. Do you want to help the others check Hunny’s body?”

In the girl’s bathroom? _HELL NO._

But Jenita dragged me there anyway. The little fricker.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The final body belonged to Hunny. This would be the last body to examine before the first trial of this high school of mutual killing would begin.

Since Jenita dragged me there, it was a given that she would be there. The other people at the site were Bonn, Wilson and… who’s this douchebag- ahhhh, it’s the guy I mentioned before, James.

**JAMES JAYOMA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SINGER**

 

Opera-voiced James has garnered a _huge_ female fanbase online, and when I say huge, I mean _HUGE._ Girls from all over the world love to listen to him, no matter what their tastes are! From girls who adore the pop sensations of the century to the girls who enjoy classical opera men, he’s attracted them all with his mind-bendingly wide vocal range. Apparently he’s attracted a lot of gay and bisexual fans too- what are you looking at?

**BONN PEDERNAL – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL RULEBREAKER**

Remember when I said I’ll punch something if I had to explain another ridiculous talent? … No? Well then. Well, anyway, Bonn’s a top-notch rulebreaker, as you can tell. He breaks so many rules, it’s not even funny anymore. He once broke into Malacanang Palace and trashed the President’s room – and you know what happened? He got off clean, _because that was just his talent_. Good grief. Apparently, breaking the rules is in his nature. He can control it sometimes, like right now: he wasn’t killing anybody or messing with the machine guns, when he could. He can control his rulebreaking tendencies when it involves his life, but when it doesn’t, he literally can’t help it. Though that makes me wonder about that episode with the President’s office…

**WILSON BARRIENTOS – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL GAMER**

Gamer boy Wilson’s talents are quite beneficial: he’s the best in his field, which is gaming. He’s played all sorts of games, from MMORPGs, to first person shooters, to first person dungeon crawling RPGs, to even – though reluctantly – those cruddy girly games. He’s a very coveted beta tester, because no bug or glitch escapes his gaze in a game. He’s seen them all. Rumors say he’s beta testing an experiment some scientists have been working on – a real life Pokemon experiment, of sorts.

James, out of respect for the dead, closed Hunny’s eyes with a brush of his hand, wiping the trail of tears away with the backside of his hand before pushing up her jaw, closing her mouth behind the cloth gag. Bonn, meanwhile, was examining the broken mirror and the glass shards that had pierced Hunny’s chest, while Wilson was gathering up Hunny’s EXO necklace and inspecting it as well.

“Nya?” I turned, watching as Jenita picked up something underneath the sink. “This is a hygiene kit, nya! What’s it doing here?”

A hygiene kit? “Let me see that.”

Jenita handed over the hygiene kit, effectively labeled ‘PROPERTY OF YIXING’S PIG’, and I sweatdropped before opening it up. It had the usual girl’s hygiene kit contents: sanitary napkins, toothpaste, toothpicks, tissue, powder… wow, this thing held a lot of stuff.

“Huh?” James peered into the sink filled with water, shutting off the tap as he did so. He reached into the – “James, what the hell?! That’s full of blood and water!”

The boy rolled his eyes, mumbling “Weenies,” under his breath before pulling out a toothbrush – Hunny’s, most likely. But what was it doing outside of the hygiene kit?

“Hey, guys, check this out.” Wilson approached the broken mirror and pointed to a spot in the middle. “Jayoma, gimme the toothbrush.” Once the toothbrush was passed over to him, Wilson placed the bottom end of the toothbrush at the center, and stated, “It looks like someone stabbed the mirror with the end of this toothbrush, thus breaking the mirror into those shards.”

I can only assume Jenita raised an eyebrow. “But why would Hunny break the mirror, nya~?”

“Hey guys.” Startled, I turned around, spotting Joshua and Paula standing at the doorway. “Mind if we help?”

I shrugged. I had no problem with that.

Joshua and Paula fist bumped each other before attending to Hunny’s body, inspecting the pattern the glass shards had stabbed through her chest. Paula was extracting each shard carefully with tweezers (she found them in the Biotechnology room, she says), while Joshua was sitting down, holding up a tray, where Paula placed each and every one of the shard.

I sat down next to Joshua. “Aren’t you scared of blood?”

“… Not really.” The DJ shrugged as Paula placed another shard on the tray. “… Hey Marc?”

“Yeah?”

“… can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” The poor guy looked bothered. To myself, I wondered what was up with Joshua? Did the poor guy maybe have feeling for Aiel? Maybe. Did he become really close with Arfel? I have no idea. Did he like Hunny? Probably not the way I’m thinking. “So, what’s bothering you?”

Joshua remained silent as Paula placed the last shard on the tray and took it from him, standing up and attempting to refit the glass to the frame with the others. I raised an eyebrow, and opened my mouth, about to ask again when he mumbled, “Marc, if you love someone, would you really do anything for them?”

“…” I was caught off guard by his question. “What… what do you mean…?”

The DJ turned to stare at me. Well, I couldn’t really tell; his eyes were almost always perpetually shut into thin lines. “I mean… for instance… your family was in danger… or the one you love the most… would you do anything for them?”

“Probably yes.” I answered, semi-confidently.

Joshua pressed, “As in, _anything_?”

“Uh…” What was he getting to? “… yeah, I probably would do anything for them, especially if it involved their safety.”

“I see…” Joshua remained silent for the next few minutes, staring at Hunny’s body. I remained quiet too, staring at the wound on Hunny’s chest. Who… who would do such a thing…?

The DJ looked up. “… I miss my sister…”

“… You have a sister?”

Joshua nodded bleakly; the poor guy looked even more depressed. “It’s just that… seeing that motive video made me remember… that the last time I talked with her, the moment before I entered the school… we had been arguing…”

I didn’t talk as he continued, “That was probably the last time I saw my sister… and now… s-she might be…” Oh god, oh god, he was _crying_ , what’re you gonna do, Marc, WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO-

“Marc…” Oh, he wasn’t crying; he just got choked up. I’m stupid.

“Yeah, Joshua?”

“… thanks for listening to me… I just needed to get that out of my system…”

I flashed the boy a thumbs up. “No worries; we’re all friends here, right? We’re gonna be stuck in a school for a long time together, so might as well be friends, right?”

“… right…” Joshua smiled weakly before standing up. “Oh yeah, before I forget, I found this in the trash can in Aiel and Ana’s room.” He opened up his jacket and handed me- wait, was this Aiel’s motive video?!

I opened my mouth, ready to ask him, but he had already left, Paula trailing behind him. I was instead left behind with Bonn, James, Jenita and Wilson, holding a disc labeled ‘AIEL’, sitting down next to a dead body.

… Wait, what?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“I’m sorry, Aiel…” I mumbled, placing the disc on the CD player of the laptop I owned before slipping on my headphones. I was back in my room; after investigating Hunny’s body, the rest of the class went and checked on the other bodies. Everyone was alternating between examining bodies and checking on the clinic to see what had happened with Mika. But that doesn’t matter right now.

The semi-familiar music played again through my headphones before a picture of what looked like Aiel’s family – what _other_ family has mostly carnation pink hair or fuchsia eyes – appeared, waving to the camera. It was like my video, but the video didn’t end with the ruined living room.

No; they kicked it up a notch.

The screen turned black as Monocat narrated, “ _Aiel Pardilla, SHSL Friend, everyone’s friend. She has such a loving family, and her family life is so beautiful! Nobody would dare hurt the SHSL Friend, after all! She is the most important component of this ugly Earth!”_

Screams were heard. Human screams. Flashes of blood appeared on the screen, with occasional shots of wide, tear-filled eyes. I couldn’t tell who owned which eye anymore; they all looked the same.

“ _Nobody would DARE hurt the SHSL Friend, in fear of their life, but her family? They’re fair game, aren’t they? Mrowhahahaha~!!!”_

The next shot featured all of her family.

_Dead._

_“What happened to them, I wondpurr~?”_ Monocat’s voice narrated. _“Did this really happen to the Pardilla family~?”_

**FIND OUT AFTER GRADUATION~!!!**

“H-how…” I grabbed my headphones and slammed them on my laptop – for _real_ this time – unable to process what I just saw. “H-how could she… did she really… Aiel’s family…!!!”

_“Mmm, I’m getting bored of you worms scrabbling around helplessly.”_

I found myself glaring up at the screen in my room, where Monocat had popped up, twirling the martini glass lazily. “ _I want all of my pretties to gather at the Amadome, where I will reveal to you the entrance to the courtroom, okay~? Okay, bye now, nyaaa~!”_ The screen shut off.

Sighing, I placed my laptop and my headphones back on my desk before heading on out, shutting the door behind me before jogging over to the Amadome, where I could make out most of the class arriving from different parts of the school. Monocat was standing on the stage, purring, while everyone was… standing on little circle pads?

“Oh, my little luckster’s here~!” Monocat cheered. “Quickly now, go to the circle with your name on it~!”

“I’m not your little luckster,” I grumbled, shoving my hands into my jacket’s pockets before walking over to the circle with my name on it. It was located in between Ina and Dave’s circles, surprisingly, so when I stood in the middle, Ina and Dave both waved to me.

Monocat clapped her paws together. “Alright, let’s see, who’s still missing… mmhmm… mmhmmm…” She stared at each of us in turn before saying, “Since Mika, Justine and Dara aren’t around yet, they cannot attend the first trial~! Haaa, how sad, isn’t it? The Attorney cannot attend the very first Trial!”

“Just get on with it and tell us why we’re stepping on colorful fucking pads!” Bonn yelled.

The dual colored cat bristled before huffing. “Humph, fine~! Now, as I said before, I will be revealing to you all the entrance to the courtrooms, so I think it’d be best if…” She smirked – how could a cat smirk? I have no idea – and purred, “I think it’d be best if you girls held onto your skirts and you boys held onto your pants, ‘cause our furry first courtroom is right below you~!”

…

… Wait, WHAT?!

Suddenly, I wasn’t standing on anything. I blinked for a few moments, before yelling as I fell down into the abyss of what Monocat called a courtroom. Was this the end?! I closed my eyes, praying, only to open them again as I heard Dave screaming, “WAHOOOOO!”

When I opened my eyes, I found a huge clusterfuck of what looked like extremely durable glass tubes tangled around each other. I was inside one as well, coincidentally; it felt like the world’s biggest water slide, minus the water. I passed by Daenna when my ‘slide’ – I’ll call it slides for now – curved to the right, and I almost high-fived Bea when her slide curved in the opposite direction to mine, but after a few minutes, we were all deposited onto a large, fluffy purple velvet pillow.

Dunno why I described it. Shut up.

“This is soooo soft!” Rosemary cheered, lolling around on the pillow.

I laughed, hearing Reymon’s muffled yelling coming from underneath Rosemary. “ _Rose, get OFF, you’re CRUSHING MY ARM!”_

“This is weird.” James commented, jumping up and down on his spot. “Where are we, anyway?”

Suddenly, Monocat popped out from the center of the pillow. Startled, we all fell off as she giggled and meowed, “Welcome to the court room, kiddies~!”

Lights flashed on from every side as the pillow disappeared into the floor, Monocat doing a backflip into a tall chair near the side as the lights revealed where we currently were.

This was…

“THE COURTROOM?!”

The trial for life and death was about to begin.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**34/37 STUDENTS ALIVE (?)**


	9. DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to just... drop this here... Merry Christmas everyone...
> 
> I WILL draw the things. I've just decided that from now on, I will write the whole thing first, and then the drawings will come after, because I can't seem to draw properly the executions while trying to write things.
> 
> Also, this is crap.

Thirty seven stands stood in a circle around where the pillow previously was. A tall chair was positioned directly behind one. The wallpaper was unrecognizable as wallpaper, and the tiles didn’t feel like tiles, either. They looked too realistic; the floor was made to look like a grassy meadow, covered in small flowers, while the walls were covered with wallpaper that gave off the illusion of us being in a small secluded grassy meadow in the middle of a fairytale forest. The ceiling was painted in such a way that made us feel as if there was only a small portion of the sun gazing upon us.

In short, this place was _creepy_.

“It looks so real!” Aisley gaped, patting the walls just to reassure herself that it wasn’t real. But then again, she was patting the portion with trees, so it wasn’t really helping. I bent down to pat the ground, but said floor was covered in realistic grass-like fibers that felt _real_ when I brushed my palm against them. What was Monocat up to…?

Monocat purred contentedly. “Do you like it? I had this room specially made fur the occasion! Oh, and do be careful,” She meowed to the boys gathering around – what the hell, was that a bunny? “Those rabbits haven’t had their shots yet.

The boys withdrew instantly from the fluffy little rabbit, which sniffed and bounded away into a hole thing on one of the tree painting… things. Crouching down and putting my ear to the wall, I could hear the sound of metal cages being rattled, so I assumed that the rabbits had a home inside those walls.

“Well, shall we get on to the trial now?” The cat asked, sitting properly on the tall chair and crossing her hind paws. You know, like how people sit on thrones. “I don’t like to wait, and quite frankly, the execution machines don’t like to be kept waiting, either!”

“W-waaaaHHH!!!”

Ana shrieked, falling flat on her butt a few feet away from me, and I ran over, kneeling down before asking, “Ana? What’s wrong?”

“W-w-what’s THAT supposed to mean?!” She pointed to… indeed, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!

Standing across the room, in front of a stand, was a… photo frame. An ornate golden photo frame, standing atop a tall golden pole. There were three like it, all put in random places – at least, I _thought_ it was random, until I saw what the photo frames contained.

They contained pictures of the ones who already died.

Grayed out pictures of them, to be exact. They weren’t exactly smiling in their pictures, and why would they be, when they were crossed out with a big bloody red X mark? And… come to think of it… patting Ana’s shoulder, I stood up and stood next to Arfel’s picture. As I suspected; they were about the same height as they were when they were… when they were still alive.

“Oh, those?” Monocat shrugged. “It wouldn’t be fair to leave poor Arfel, Aiel and Hunny out of the school trial, now, would it?”

“Oh, put a sock in it, Monocat.” Dave yelled. “Just declare the court in session or something!”

Monocat growled. She was _not_ happy with Dave’s outburst. “Fine. I declare this court… iiiiiinnnn _session!_ ”

**TRIAL TIME… ALL RISE!**

“I have a question.”

The trial began with Arah raising her hand. Monocat cocked her head to the side, asking, “Hm? What is it?”

“There were three murders,” The Secretary began, pushing up her glasses and pulling out the notepad given to her from her pocket. I _did_ mention we all got notepads with Monocat headed pens before. “Were they all murdered by the same person, Monocat? Or are we searching for three different murderers?”

Monocat cackled. “Obviously only one person killed them all! I should know; I watched the whole thing happen right before my eyes!”

“I see.” Arah stopped speaking, writing down things on her notepad.

Soon, everyone began talking all at once, but I remained quiet, unsure. A rabbit passed by my feet, sniffing around, and I shuddered as the rabbit sniffed near my soles, its head entering the hole where I usually put my leg through. Ugggh… it was making me lose concentration, and fast.

“Let’s first discuss Aiel’s murder.” Eugene decided. He was standing near Monocat, about two stands away from the stand directly in front of Monocat. The SHSL President hollered, “OI, SHUT UP EVERYBODY! WE’RE GONNA DISCUSS THIS PROPERLY LIKE CIVILIZED MEN AND WOMEN!”

“Could’ve said that in a lower voice…” Paula grumbled, covering her ears.

The class soon quieted down as Eugene said, “So we’ve figured out that Aiel died first, followed by Arfel, and finally Hunny. They were all murdered by the same person within the span of fifteen or so minutes during Night Time.”

“I knew somebody would break the rule…” Wilson grumbled.

“Aiel was obviously killed by the chair leg through her chest,” Nahangel continued, a hand on his stand. “And Arfel had his heart ripped out messily out of his chest, of _course_ he’s dead. And Hunny’s got glass shards cutting straight into the veins connecting her heart to the rest of her body.”

Joshua waved his hand around. “Alright, so we got that outta the way. Now what?”

“We figure out whodunit, of course!” Rosemary said cheerfully. “And how the guy or gal whodunit did it!”

Joan mused, “Aiel was murdered with a chair leg… but how did the chair leg get broken in the first place? I’m pretty sure nobody’s been brave enough to explore the fourth floor yet to discover something like that.”

“The chair had to have been made of metal,” I stated as everyone turned to me. “And the chair had to have been really rusty to have become that easily breakable. That’s a probable reason for the usage of a chair leg as a murder weapon.”

Aisley crossed her arms. “Well, yeah, so that solves how Aiel was murdered. But let’s talk about Arfel; how did the culprit, and WHY did the culprit, aim for his heart, anyway?”

“Arfel was probably an unlucky witness to the murder,” Daenna deduced, the Princess’s hands clasping around each other as she continued, “And because of this, the murderer went after him. Perhaps Arfel sought to hide in the Biotechnology room, and in doing so, unwittingly trapped himself in a room filled with various dissecting tools?”

Reymon nodded. “Could be. I found a syringe near the murder scene, and after some tests-“

“And after getting stabbed a few times by said syringe as testing...” Andrea grumbled.

“-I discovered that Arfel was indeed overdosed with something. Anesthesia.” The SHSL Scientific Archer shrugged helplessly. “Found anesthesia in one of the shelves near the table where Arfel’s heart was. It was kind of easily accessible really.”

Bonn turned an evil eye to Monocat. “And I guess you wanted that, huh?”

Monocat only cackled in response.

“Well, anyway,” Reymon continued. “We found little stab wounds on Arfel’s arm, where the syringe’s needle perfectly fit, so we can only assume that the culprit stabbed Arfel multiple times to get the anesthesia in faster.”

Shine raised an eyebrow. “Is that really how it works?”

“I dunno.” Arvin shrugged. “But go on, Reymon.”

The Scientific Archer nodded. “After that-“

“Let me continue this time,” I cut in. Reymon looked surprised, but he then nodded after a look from Andrea silenced him. I smiled before saying, “Arfel most likely fell over due to the overdose, and, judging from the jagged way the skin near Arfel’s heart was carved out, I’d say the murderer had no idea that anesthesia overdose could already kill someone, and the heart carving was unnecessary.”

Bea nodded in approval as I continued, “There were no traces of used gloves in the trash can, so the murderer probably used his bare hands-“ A chorus of ‘ewww’s and ‘oh god gross’s cut in. “-to remove the heart and place it on that tray for all to see. However, I did find something interesting in the trash can – headphones.”

“They’re regular headphones.” Andrea cut in this time. “They look like Arfel’s headphones too, come to think of it – the guy never left his room without his earphones blasting his favorite anime music.”

JP added, “Uh, if it helps, the wire near the actual headphones was severed by something.”

“Oh, yes, I forgot about that, thank you.” The SHSL Artist closed her eyes and nodded in his direction before opening them again. “It was probably severed by the rusty scalpel we saw next to Arfel’s body, the one used to carve out his heart. Arfel probably used it as self-defense against the scalpel, though that didn’t work, obviously.”

Kyle snickered, “Yeah, cause a headphone wire works _real_ well as a shield.”

“Well, anyway, after that, the murderer was done.” Charles decided to cut in this time, pushing up his glasses again in his own trademark style. I wanted to rip his glasses off. “There were no more witnesses to their murder of Aiel, and all they had to do was clean off at the nearest bathroom. And where was that?”

Ina finished his sentence with a glum, “The boy’s bathroom on the second floor.”

“So does that mean the culprit is a guy, then?” Ellianna asked.

I froze, thinking. She did have a point… “… There’s no other evidence that it would be a girl.”

“No, there is!” Juneth, SHSL Minion, insisted. “Remember? Hunny was found in the second floor girl’s bathroom!”

Oh, right.

Dave’s brow was furrowed with his deep thinking. “Yeah, she was. So that means the girls aren’t clear yet.”

“Well, anyway,” Bea decided to continue the story Charles and the others had been making. “So yeah, the culprit heads into the bathroom, intending to wash up there, cause if he washed up in their shared bathroom with another person, they’d figure out what they did, right? They probably found Hunny there-“

“Wait,” I interrupted. “What _would_ Hunny be doing there at that hour?”

“I…” Bea was at a loss for words. “… I don’t… know…”

It was Rafael who spoke up this time, his lanky frame shaking. “… I was taking too long in the bathroom in our room. She wanted to brush her teeth and get ready for bed, but I was yelling at her, telling her that she could go brush her teeth somewhere else, and… and she…”

“… And she went upstairs, where she encountered the murderer.” Juneth finished. Rafael remained silent.

Bea couldn’t continue the story, so Bismarck reluctantly picked up the pieces. “They found Hunny there, and no, that wouldn’t do, Hunny was a notable blabbermouth, and she would tell everyone what had happened, so the culprit had to silence her. However-“

“-Hunny knew this,” Arah weaved her assumptions into the story as smoothly as possible. “That explains why the mirror was shattered; Hunny probably shattered the glass to catch the culprit off guard, and possibly call the attention of anyone outside. But the one thing she failed to remember was that-“

“-the rooms were soundproof, and nobody would hear the glass shattering.” Another girl finished. “And because of that, she shattered the glass for nothing, and thus, she provided the culprit a means to kill her.”

Ellianna crossed her arms the way Aisley did earlier. “That doesn’t explain why she has a gag.”

“Maybe,” Ina suddenly had a look of enlightenment. “She was about to scream, but the killer didn’t want her to – the killer probably forgot that the rooms were soundproof – so they worked around and gagged her with cloth. And _then_ she decided to use her toothbrush to shatter the mirror to call someone’s attention.”

That made sense. Everyone nodded in approval, mumbling, until Kyle pointed out, “But we still haven’t figured out who the murderer is! And to top that off, we’ve got no more clues left!”

“He’s right!”

“O-oh, geez…”

“…” I stared down at my stand long and hard. The murderer… had to have acted on the motive, and had to have been really nervous to murder anyone they considered witnesses… (but then again any murderer would kill off any witnesses)… so… who was it…?

… Wait a minute.

I examined each and every one of my classmates in turn. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They all looked exactly the same as the day before the murder was announced-

… I think I’ve figured it out.

“… Guys…” I said slowly. Everyone’s voices died down as they all turned to me. “… guys, I think I’ve figured out the murderer.”

They all erupted into loud shouts and confused yells, while Bea only smiled at me, nodding in approval. Inspired, I said, “There’s still one more clue left… and that’s… Aiel’s dying message.”

“Dying message?” Apparently most of the class had overlooked that on their examination of the body, although those who had been with me nodded, looking at each other, while Charles facepalmed. He was probably berating himself for forgetting that crucial piece of information, ha, ha.

I sweated. This was it. Everything counted on this last clue. “Her dying message. It was on the wall behind her, didn’t you notice? She probably wrote it so that we would know the name of her killer.”

“But it read SOP, didn’t it?” Bonn asked. “Or was it SOF?”

Aisley flared up. “SOF?! Then it was either Arah or Daenna who murdered her! They’re both Sofias, aren’t they?! Daenna Sofia, Arah Sofia, it’s one of them, I just know it!”

“… No, it’s not one of them.” Bea sweatdropped. “I already told you Bonn, she wouldn’t have time to turn around and write that right-side up. And besides, it would probably be in code, or else the killer would find out she wrote their name.”

I nodded in affirmation before saying, “If you turn her dying message upside down, you would see the letters J, O, and an unknown letter. This leaves less possible candidates for the murderer. But,” At this, I turned to Joan, who looked startled. “You were in your room that night, weren’t you?”

“I can vouch for her…” Aisley grumbled, crossing her arms. “She kicks like a horse when she’s having a nightmare.”

Joan glared at Aisley. “And _you_ scream like a bitch.”

“ _Like I was saying_ ,” I began again, except louder. “That leaves us with only a few more choices. Two, to be exact. And John Paul,” I turned to the chessmaster, who looked at me curiously. “Where were you last night during Night Time?”

It was that other girl who answered this time… Juis, I think. “He was in the room, talking to someone on the chatbox.”

“If Mika was here, she would vouch for me.” JP explained, smiling. “We were talking all the way up to midnight last night.”

Juis grumbled, “Yeah, and his typing was keeping me up the whole time!”

“Right…” I sweatdropped before closing my eyes, being dramatic. And then, I opened my eyes, pointing my finger at someone. “And that leaves us with one suspect… the person who murdered Aiel, Arfel and Hunny… it could only have been you…!”

Everyone gasped, but no one gasped louder than Paula as I pointed at the one person she never expected.

Joshua De Vera froze in place as eyes turned to focus on him. It was funny how his eyes still remained closed even after all this time. He tugged on his collar, asking, “H-hey, this has gotta be a mistake! I’m not the murderer! What makes you say that?!”

“Was he in the room last night, Paula?” I turned to Paula, who fell silent. The Writer was combing her hair with her fingers nervously, as if to calm her nerves, and I pressed, “ _Paula_. We need to know.”

“… no…”

“But I could’ve been anywhere, man!” Joshua tried to insist, placing his hands on both sides of his stand. “I could’ve wandered anywhere!”

Eugene said sternly, “Dara strictly enforced the Night Time rule, and Monocat even reinforced it- hey, speaking of which, wouldn’t that mean the machine gun should have shot him down?”

“Upupuwhoops.” Monocat shrugged. “Oh well. Guess he survived that one.”

That fricking cat.

The DJ was visibly sweating now. His eyebrows were knitted with anxiety as he leaned forward. “You’ve gotta believe me, guys, I wouldn’t murder anybody! A-and besides, you don’t have proof that _I’m_ the murderer! It could’ve been Bonn or something!”

“…” I shook my head sadly. Joshua… “… Where are your headphones, Joshua?”

Joshua froze in place, a hand reaching up to the place where his headphones usually rested around his neck. “Those headphones we found in the trash in the Biotechnology room… those were yours, weren’t they? Not Arfel’s.”

“I…”

I continued on, serious. “Arfel fought back, didn’t he? You didn’t expect him to fight back, and like the others said, you used the wire as a temporary protection until you jabbed the needle into his arm. That’s when you murdered Arfel.”

“…” Joshua looked down, and crossed his arms. His brow was still furrowed, but he wasn’t denying it anymore.

Monocat leaned forward. “Hmm, hmm~! Well then, it seems like you’ve reached a general consensus on who the murderer was! Now it’s time to vote~!” Switches popped out in front of us on our stands, and Monocat declared, “Using the switches in front of you, you may vote for the culprit for this murder case! But be careful, majority is always what matters here in the trial of life and death!”

I’m pretty sure everyone selected Joshua De Vera in a heartbeat.

A cheerful fanfare sounded, followed by bubbles coming from a hole in one of the painted trees. Moncoat cheered. “Congratulations, you got it right~! Joshua De Vera killed Andriella Pardilla, Arfel Catipay, and Hunny Laurente!”

“Well, almost all of you got it right, anyway…” The cat sniffled. “Paula alone voted wrong. Paula darling, you really should be more careful; you almost cost them all their lives~!”

Paula stared at Joshua, who had pulled up his hoodie to hide his face from the rest of us. “Josh… w-why…?”

“… I never meant to… I never meant to kill her…!” Joshua’s voice cracked at the last word, and suddenly, the Super High School Level DJ broke down, sinking to his knees and sobbing. I actually felt kind of sorry for him as he stammered, “S-she… she called me out that night…”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

friendlyBear [FB] began pestering discManiac [DM]  
FB: helloooo, joshua! :))  
FB: im sorry for bothering you this late, but could you accompany me upstairs?  
FB: i seem to have forgotten something there. its not here in my room, and thats the only other place that i can recall visiting recently!  
FB: so can you? pretty please?   
DM: idk aiel  
DM: its like  
DM: 11 something   
FB: pleaaassse?  
FB: you would be doing me such a big favor, you know!!!  
DM: yeah whatever  
DM: be waiting for you outside then   
FB: oh yippee!!!  
FB: thank you joshua!  
FB: my life depended on you accepting my request! :))   
friendlyBear [FB] ceased pestering discManiac [DM]  
DM: wait what

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, let me get this straight; _Aiel_ was supposed to _murder_ _you_?!” Kyle shook his head in disbelief. I couldn’t believe it either. Aiel, the Super High School Level Friend, was going to murder Joshua that night? She was… aiming for him…?

Joshua nodded. The tears weren’t stopping for him yet. “I tried to get her to calm down, to get her to… to calm the _fuck_ down… but…” He choked for a bit. “I took the chair leg from her… forcefully… I tried to keep it away from her, to show her that I didn’t mean any harm… that she didn’t need to _kill…_ b-but…”

“… The chair leg found its way to her chest?” Dave ventured.

The DJ clutched his head in shame. “I-I KNOW, OKAY?! I backed away then, watching as she sank to the floor… and when I turned around, I saw Arfel at the doorway, staring. He was staring, his mouth open… a-and then he ran, and I had to chase him to the Biotech room, w-where he began yelling at me,” I couldn’t take much more of this. “And he screamed that I had killed Aiel, when I _didn’t!_ W-well, n-not on purpose… but still! And he wouldn’t shut up, a-and he… and he threatened to tell everyone!”

“Joshua…” Paula was still mostly speechless.

“I c-couldn’t let him tell everyone, right?! I couldn’t…” I’m guessing it took all of his willpower not to collapse on the floor in a fetal position. “I-I had to… to kill him… b-but he wouldn’t keep still, and I just…” Figures that he would get too choked up to even reach the part where he killed Hunny.

Monocat sighed. “Well, that was heartbreaking and all, but-“

“Why…?”

I’m pretty sure most of the people in the room turned to stare at the source of the voice as they approached Joshua, who had stood up, wiping away his tears and trying to look dignified. Said source then grabbed Joshua by the shoulders and screamed, “WHY?!”

“WHY DID YOU GO THROUGH WITH IT, THEN?!” Paula yelled, tears welling up in her eyes. “YOU KNOW YOU COULD’VE JUST STAYED IN THE ROOM, AND AVOIDED ALL OF THIS! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO OUT WHEN I WAS ASLEEP, AND LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!!”

Joshua was frozen in place as the Writer sobbed, “W-why did you have to go and… a-and go with Aiel… w-wHY…! THIS ALL COULD’VE BEEN AVOIDED, AND AIEL AND THE OTHERS WOULD STILL BE ALIVE…!!!”

“ **LIKE I WAS SAYING** ,” Monocat said loudly, over Paula’s sobs. “That was heartbreaking and all, but you all know the rules! When somebody is caught, they must be punished for their crimes!”

Wait…

Punish… _oh GOD._

Paula’s tears momentarily stopped as Monocat purred, “For you, Joshua De Vera, I have purrpared a special execution, just for the likes of you!”

“W-wait, please!” Paula let go of Joshua, turning to Monocat and staggering closer. “C-can’t you delay the execution for a bit?!”

The cat scoffed, doing a dance. “No way, sistuh~! I’ve been waiting for this ever since I was created! This is gonna be fuuuuuun~!”

“And now, Joshua De Vera…”

“YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

** ‘DJ GOT US FALLIN’ IN LOVE’ **

Clamps grabbed at Joshua’s wrists, ankles, and neck and the boy bowed his head, resigned to his fate. He was dragged off into another room, and the rest of the class followed, only to find their selves getting elevated to a higher plane, while Joshua was dragged and bound to…

… A large record.

He didn’t scream. He remained silent as the lights turned on to reveal that he was on a gigantic turntable. He remained strapped to the record as the lights panned to reveal a giant Monocat-like contraption.

The music began playing, and the record Joshua was on spun slowly at first. The gigantic Monocat lifted the needle that was meant to initiate the song, and Joshua swallowed, waiting for it to pierce him, when the Monocat let go, letting the needle crash on the record.

Upon seeing that it missed, the Monocat lifted it again, and this repeated over and over, missing Joshua each time. Paula was screaming now – screaming for her roommate, screaming for her friend. The record was spinning faster now.

It was then and there that Joshua heard the screams of his roommate, which reverberated throughout the whole execution room. Although initially he had opted to close his eyes throughout the whole thing, her screams made him open his eyes for the first and last time. His gaze was blurry as he searched the group of students for a familiar face, and he relaxed when he saw her face.

He smiled, and Paula froze. The needle crashed straight into his stomach, and Joshua De Vera was thankful that the last thing he got to see was his friend’s face.

The record spun around, and I don’t really need to tell you what happened to his innards.

Joshua De Vera was dead.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The platform we were all standing on lowered back down, and the gate separating the execution device from the spectators was lifted, allowing the rest of us to move just a little bit closer to Joshua’s mutilated body. Only Pau was brave enough to move forward; she ran right up to Joshua’s body, and collapsed, holding what was left of his upper body in her arms and sobbing. It was so unlike the SHSL Writer, but then again… Aiel… Aiel had aimed to kill Joshua, but had ended up getting murdered instead… the hunter… became the hunted, so to say. Rosemary would’ve whacked me if I had said it out loud.

Our first trial had gone by, and we had lost another classmate to this insane game of kill or be killed.

If we weren’t sure before, we were definitely sure now.

Everything. Everything was real.

And one wrong move would cost us all our lives.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**33/37 STUDENTS ALIVE (?)**


	10. H.A. Bordner - Wake Up! A New Building Awaits!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigation of the new building... and someone's finally awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I told myself I wouldn't update this story until after my exams... and I ended up updating before the exams anyway so- yeah here we are.
> 
> DESIGNING CHARACTERS TO REPRESENT MY CLASSMATES IS HARD

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH (AB)NORMAL DAYS: WAKE UP! A NEW BUILDING AWAITS!]**

Paula was still shaking.

The first execution had rattled her to her very core. But then again, everyone else was rattled too. I could see it in their eyes; some of them had looks of horror, and some had looks of anxiety. A few had looks of pure fury; fury directed at none other than the bicolored cat that had declared itself as our principal. However, some of us simply looked bored out of their wits, like they hadn’t just witnessed one of our classmates get ironically executed. I say it’s ironic because he was – _is_ – a DJ, and he got executed on a turntable. Talk about a backhand to the face.

As the stands disappeared into the grassy floor, Bea turned to Monocat, asking, “Hey, Monocat? What happens to the dead bodies?”

“Now that’s a secret!” Monocat attempted to make a peace sign with her paws, but, upon realizing that her paws could not separate properly the way fingers could, she retracted her paw and cackled instead. “However, I will reveal it to you darlings one day~!”

Bea’s eyebrows rose in confusion as the glass tubes we went through earlier descended on each of us. “Wait, what do you mean-“

She didn’t really get a chance to finish her sentence after the tubes descended on us. We were sucked back up to the surface, screaming. The girls who were wearing skirts were screeching as the wind made their skirts flare up, while the boys who passed by said girls were trying their hardest to cover their eyes lest they became on the receiving end of their wraths. I had my hoodie on, so it wasn’t a problem; I just had to hang onto it until we ended up on the surface. Moments later, however, we found ourselves sprawled on the ground of the Amadome, windswept and annoyed.

Daenna huffed, standing up and dusting herself off. “That was the most undignified method of travel I have ever experienced in my current life.” The princess then began to fix her hair moodily. “Why, even the common _karitela_ is more dignified than this!”

“Oh wow, Her Highness knows what a _karitela_ is.” I commented, trying to lighten the mood.

Daenna chuckled. “It’s a horse drawn carriage in the Philippines, similar to the royal carriages back in Palekaiko. Not to seem rather condescending or anything, but I had to know that because my parents are joint leaders of the country.”

“Eheheh…” I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly before a thought suddenly occurred to me. “Wait, I almost forgot about Mika!”

“Mika?”

“Oh yeah, Mika!”

“Who’s Mika?”

“You fucking dumbass, she got burned alive in front of you a while ago!”

Apparently, everyone else had forgotten about Mika – and the other two who had missed the first trial. Soon, the rest of the class was running towards the clinic, whose door was, oddly enough, closed. Dara was sitting outside said door, posed primly on a chair and typing something on her laptop. At the sound of our footsteps, she looked up, and asked, “So, how did the trial go?”

“…” Nobody could really answer that at first. Nahangel adjusted his tie nervously, while Eugene was avoiding Dara’s gaze, which was kinda hard, because… y’know, he’s insanely tall, and… yeah. Joan was wringing her hands, while Ellianna was fiddling with her camera.

It was Paula herself who spoke up, despite the fact that her voice was cracking at some parts. “… Joshua got… got executed…”

“… I’m sorry.” Dara mumbled, closing her laptop before standing up and patting Paula on the shoulder. You know, I’ve never understood why people always apologized whenever they get told that someone close to someone just died. It’s not like they _killed_ the person or something.

The Writer sighed, biting her lip, while the relatively shorter girl turned to the rest of us, stating, “I’ve been sitting out here ever since Justine kicked me out, claiming that I couldn’t take him poking around with a living human’s guts.” She huffed. “As if I couldn’t take a little bit of blood and gore!”

“Exactly when did he kick you out?” Rosemary asked her, a pen poised over her clipboard.

Dara shrugged. “Around the same time I heard you guys scream the first time.” Rosemary’s pen skittered on the paper furiously as the Leader continued, ”Speaking of which, why _were_ you guys screaming?”

“We got… sucked down a bunch of tubes.” Dave offered lamely.

“I’m not even gonna ask anymore.” Dara shook her head before turning to the door and knocking. “Hey, Justine, are you done in there? The others are already here.”

 _“Dammit Dara, you can’t rush science!”_ A muffled voice came from inside the room. Reymon raised an eyebrow at this as Justine continued, _“And I don’t care if they’re outside; I’m still operating!”_

“Oh for fuck’s sakes.” Bonn rolled up his sleeves, growling, before backing up and ramming into the door... or at least, he was supposed to ram into the door. Justine had opened the door at just the right moment, and Bonn ended up crashing into the bed farthest away from the door, groaning. Ana giggled nervously as Nahangel rushed to Bonn’s aid, helping him sit up properly while lecturing him on what I assumed was his recklessness. He looked like Bonn’s wife; all he needed was an apron.

Justine was staring at the rest of us with a deadpan expression. “… How’d the trial go, everyone?”

“It was Joshua.” Rosemary piped up cheerfully. “He had his guts ripped out with the needle on the turntable!”

…

I sweatdropped. “Way to be blunt, Rose.”

“Thank you~! I aim to please!” The Therapist bowed, and Charles only groaned, facepalming.

Justine sighed before gesturing to the nearest bed. “Well, I fixed her up, I think. Don’t know when she’ll wake up.”

The class gathered around the bed anxiously, gazing upon the sleeping Dark Magician. It was amazing, really; it looked like she hadn’t been burnt at all. Her face was burn-free, as was what I assumed was the rest of her body. I couldn’t really tell because her previously burnt clothes were now replaced with a new, identical se- wait.

“… Where’d you get these?” Aisley asked suspiciously, gliding a hand across the black fabric of Mika’s dress. “Her clothes, I mean. Weren’t they burned?”

The Attorney gave her a blank stare. “From her closet in our shared room, of course. Where else would I retrieve such garments?”

“… Does this mean you repurrlaced her underwear too?” Jenita purred semi-innocently, a smirk on her normally cheerful face. The Fangirl covered her grin with her sleeve as she continued, “I mean, judging from that fire, I’m purretty sure that-“

“I DIDN’T HAVE TO CHANGE HER UNDERWEAR.” Justine said loudly, silencing the catlike girl. He tugged on his collar before declaring, “I mean it wasn’t necessary for me to change her underwear, seeing as that the parts that her underwear cover up were seemingly not burnt, so I deemed it unnecessary.”

Jenita giggled. “I know~! You didn’t need to get so defensive, Pawstine, that was also purretty unnecessary!”

“…” Justine facepalmed, grumbling, while the rest of us laughed at his quick attempts to deny anything. Kind of made things suspicious…

But anyway, he removed his hand from his face before saying, “Well, anyway, when I checked, her burns weren’t actually as bad as I had assumed; they didn’t burn straight through her bone, thankfully, so all I had to do was replace her skin with synthetic material that feels exactly like regular skin.” He poked at his hand thoughtfully. “It’s kind of convenient that Dara located the material inside this clinic, as if it was actually a useful component in healing wounds.”

James said darkly, “Monocat probably planned all of this beforehand…”

“…” Justine only looked at Mika, who continued to sleep soundly on the clinic bed, lips pursed into a slight frown. I watched as the Attorneyborg – yes, I’m going to call him that from now on, kind of like Scientific Archer – took a seat on the edge of the bed, reaching for one of the girl’s long braids, and began playing with it absently, apparently forgetting that the rest of us were still here.

Hmmm…

Rafael turned to the rest of us, saying, “We should probably leave these two alone or something. Y’know, to give them…” He winked. “ _Privacy.”_

“If you’re implying that I am a sexual deviant then I will blast your balls off.” Justine snapped out of his reverie, eyes narrowed at the Trendsetter, who raised his hands up in surrender, still smirking knowingly. “That is, if you have any.”

“Good grief, no need to get so defensive.” Ina chuckled. “Raffy never said that, and he didn’t imply anything either.”

The rest of us laughed as the tips of Justine’s ears turned pink. So the Attorneyborg still had some blood left in him. That was interesting. However, while the boy attempted to get some words out, I saw Charles’s pupils shrink behind his glasses out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to him, about to ask why he looked so afraid, when Bea hollered, “Raffy, GET DOWN!”

“Wha-“ Rafael didn’t have a chance to reply to that as the Musician tackled him to the ground forcefully, just as a can of burn ointment blasted past where he once stood.

Bea looked towards where the ointment had landed, still on Raffy, before tsking and getting off, holding out a hand to Rafael. “You shouldn’t tease them like that, Raffy. It’s dangerous.”

“Who threw that?” Nathan asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I didn’t see Asprah holding anything.”

Charles turned to the Gourmet. “It was obviously Mika. Didn’t you see the faint purple glow surrounding the ointment? She must be awake.”

“Really?” Rosemary stood at the head of the bed, staring at Mika upside down. She made a few silly faces first, attempting to attract the ‘sleeping’ girl’s attention, before attempting to tickle the girl’s nose with her ponytail. When she didn’t respond, Rosemary sulked, standing up straight again. Either it didn’t work, or Mika had a reaaaally strong resolve. I’m leaning towards the latter.

The Therapist pouted, “She’s not awake, Charles! You liar~!”

“…” The Attorneyborg stood up, moving to where Rosemary was, and leaned down, looking at Mika in an upside down fashion, in the same way Rosemary did. We watched as he reached for a braid and attempted to make the girl sneeze with her hair, like Rosemary, only to fail miserably. He rolled his eyes, about to stand up again, when-

“Boop.”

A finger poked the tip of Justine’s nose, making him freeze on the spot.

Vibrant violet eyes, no longer a dull purple, blinked open slowly before they connected with Justine’s silver ones. Then, they closed again as their owner yawned and stretched, sitting up on the bed as Justine backed away quickly, bumping into a bunch of people, including me. Talk about a reckless person.

“Hey!” Ina protested as Justine unintentionally knocked her to the ground as he backed away. The boy turned to her, apologizing profusely, while Mika played with her braids quietly for a few moments. Soon, she asked, “… Am I in Heaven yet?”

…

Bonn, still seated on the other bed, yelled at her, “If you call this Heaven, then I don’t wanna see what you consider _Hell_.”

“…” The container of burn ointment shot at his forehead at lightning speed, only to get blocked by a pillow that Nahangel had raised in defense. At her miss, Mika pouted, before wincing and hunching over, clutching her head in pain.

James was at her side in a heartbeat. “What happened?” James asked.

“My… my head hurt just now…” Mika mumbled, opening up one eye to look at Dara. “… Why…?”

Justine had his back turned to most of us as he cleaned up what I assumed were the burnt pieces of skin that were once part of Mika. “The minor psychokinesis that gave you your title is going to give you a ton of headaches if you don’t rest for a while. Chances are you’ll even faint frequently if you put too much effort into moving. You _did_ just go through a burning, a synthetic skin replacement, and a heavy dose of anesthesia enough to knock you out for an hour.”

An hour? “How long were we out?” I asked skeptically.

“… An hour and a half, give or take.” Justine shrugged, and I gaped. We were at that trial for an hour and a half?! And… he operated on her for an hour and a _half_?! This guy was crazy! “Oh, don’t give me that look, Marc. You honestly didn’t know that you guys took that long?”

I nodded tartly, and Justine’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Well…”

“I suggest,” It was then that Daenna decided to put her foot down. “That we disregard the previous conversation, and return to the matter at hand: Monocat _did_ say that a new building would be opened up to us, right?”

Wait. What?

Dave’s eyebrow rose. “She did?”

“Oh, _honestly_ -“The Princess looked absolutely baffled as she stared at Dave incredulously. “Have you not been paying attention? She told us that every time we survived a trial, a new world would be opened up to us! That means that a new building will be released from its lockdown state! I can’t believe you don’t remember that!”

The Agent shrugged and replied smoothly, “Well hey, if it’s not important, I don’t remember it.”

“… Ugh.” Daenna shook her head. “That sort of attitude is going to get you killed one day.”

“If it’s because of you, I don’t mind dying early.”

“ _Honestly-“_

“CUPCAAAAAAAAKES~!!!”

The two were silenced by a seemingly random shout from – you guessed it – the resident Fangirl, Jenita, who waved her obscenely long sleeves around childishly and giggled. She tilted her head to the side innocently before ducking behind me, giggling and peeking out from time to time.

Ellianna shook her head. “Well, guess we should check out the new building. You up for walking around, Corella?”

“…” Mika gave her a look that clearly said, ‘Are you fricking kidding me?’ as she slid off the bed slowly, only to lurch forward as what I assume was a headache gripped her again; she did wince in pain. James was the one who caught her, however, so she didn’t hit her head on the floor. “… Thanks. You guys should… go check out the new building. I’ll be fine.”

James looked skeptical. “You sure you can handle walking on your own? Y’know, I can accompany you or something. Wouldn’t bother me too much.”

“… Someone to watch out for me falling down would be nice.” She mumbled. “… But you’re not obligated to.”

“Hey, I offered, didn’t I? I can always just revoke it and-“

“N-no… I-I’d gladly appreciate it if you could accompany me while we checked out the new building.”

“You’re welcome.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the Attorneyborg spark violently. Nobody noticed except for me and Rosemary, whose eyes flashed as she jotted down some notes.

What... was that?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**BUILDING UNLOCKED: H.A. BORDNER BUILDING [SOUTHEASTERN SCHOOL BUILDING]**

The new building unlocked was the Bordner Building.

There were only three floors in said building, and quite frankly, I think this was the oldest building in the school. However, they also had air conditioning, so I think they fixed it up a bit. The first area I headed to in said building was the only classroom on the first floor, filled to the brim with boxes and boxes of stuff. What kind of stuff? I have no idea.

“Waaaugh!” I turned around quickly at the sound of screaming, only to sweat drop as boxes fell on top of Arvin, smothering the poor guy. Jogging over, I pulled off some of the boxes on Arvin’s face to give the guy some breathing room, and when I found him, he was sweating like hell. “Thanks, Marc. Damn, that thing was dusty!”

I stretched out a hand to him, which he gladly took, and I pulled him up, saying, “What made you want to snoop around those boxes anyway?”

“There could’ve been cool stuff in them!” Arvin defended, opening up one box. “See? This one’s filled with old books and- this isn’t cool at all.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And you realize this now?”

“I might be overexcited,” Arvin conceded. “But still, this is new stuff! Look at them!” He reached into said box and pulled out a book, flipping it open to a page. “See, this one’s about- okay I’m bored.” The Basketball Player shut the book and dropped it back into the box, groaning. “Ugh, who am I kidding? These are all boring.”

I chuckled, patting his shoulder. “Hey, maybe there _is_ something interesting here. You just haven’t found it yet, probably.”

“… Yeah, maybe!” Arvin brightened up. “Hey, maybe you should go check out other places, Marc. I can handle this area.”

“You sure?”

“I think so… Embu told me she was heading here to check out stuff too earlier, so could you see if she’s still coming?”

I shrugged. “Sure.” And with that, I waved goodbye to Arvin as I exited the room, whistling a small tune as I ascended the stairs nearby to the second floor, where I was met with-

“Onward, my loyal steed!”

“Onwards!”

I was met with the oddest sight; Mika riding on James’s back, legs wrapped in an unladylike fashion around his torso and arms around his neck, his own arms holding the legs close so that she was steady. Said girl was pointing towards the nearest classroom, which James jogged over to, and the girl declared, “To arms, Alelis! Open the door for your lady!”

“Wha-“ I blinked rapidly, trying to get a hold of myself, before walking over cautiously, asking, “Exactly why are you carrying Mika on your back?”

James replied cheerfully, “Well, I know Mika’s really heavy and all, but I couldn’t have her just fainting all over the place now, can I? So I offered to have her piggyback every other thirty minutes or so, cause she seems to be on the brink of fainting every other thirty minutes.”

“This is most convenient, actually.” Mika’s face had the slightest smile. “It’s rare to find people like James, who are willing to help out those in need.”

The Singer replied, “Well hey, can’t let a damsel in distress go unnoticed.”

“I wasn’t in distress, numbnuts.”

“Well, you might as well have been!”

“Er _-hem,_ ” I coughed loudly, calling their attention. “Not to bother you guys or anything, but shouldn’t you be… er, investigating this floor instead of bickering like this? I mean,” I raised up my hands in defense. “I ain’t gonna mess with you two if this is what you think is swaggy,” At this, Mika raised an eyebrow. “But you’re kind of supposed to investigate? To help us all escape?”

James saluted with one hand, the other still somewhat supporting Mika. “Yes sir, Mister Alelis, sir! We’re gonna get to it real quick!” And with this, I nodded, sighing. If they continued to goof around like this at this rate, we wouldn’t find anything useful on this floor… but then again, it seemed like this floor only had classrooms, which wasn’t very helpful.

Heart heavy, I ascended to the final floor, where Ellianna was investigating alone. Said girl was peering into a hallway with curiosity, and at the sound of my footsteps, she turned around, waving. “Oh, hey, Marc, what’s up?”

“Are you aware that Mika is piggybacking on James on the second floor?” I inquired, crossing my arms.

Ellianna rolled her eyes. “They’ve been at it ever since Mika nearly collapsed on the first floor. But who am I to judge?” She shrugged before pointing to the door at the end of the hallway. “According to Monocat, there were two music rooms up here-“

“Monocat showed up?”

“Just before you came.” Ellianna gestured towards the door, saying, “But anyway, want to check them out with me? I really wanna see if they’ve got drums in there, and if they have any drumsticks.”

I shrugged, following the eager photographer down the hallway. “You like drumsticks?”

“Drumming, actually.” She smiled cheerfully, a hand held tight onto the camera around her neck. “If I wasn’t the SHSL Photographer, I would’ve been the SHSL Drummer.”

“Then why didn’t you become the SHSL Drummer?”

She sighed, coming to a stop in front of the door. Her hand reached for the doorknob as she said, “My parents wanted me to be recognized for a talent I can actually utilize in most everyday situations; drumming won’t get you a degree, but photography at least has a chance. And besides, Bea’s the SHSL Musician, so it kind of falls under her category.”

“I see…” I mulled over this as Ellianna opened the door and poked her head in, only to retract her head and say, “This one’s just a music room filled with music sheets and chairs. Maybe the other one has instruments?”

I shrugged; what else could I say? Apparently Ellianna took this as a yes, because she grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me over to the other one on the other side of the floor, but not before running into Rosemary and Jenita, with half the former’s body through a doorway while the latter was tiptoeing and peering through a strip of tinted glass windows into what was labeled as the ‘Little Theater’.

“What are you guys up to?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

At this, the rest of Rosemary’s body fell through the doorway, and Jenita squeaked, running over and attempting to help her up. Ellianna and I sweatdropped as the reddish-orange haired Therapist groaned and rubbed her head as the Fangirl mumbled and swore a few times in… I could recognize Japanese and French, but that was it.

“Nngh… oh hey, Marc!” Suddenly, Rosemary’s whole face brightened up. “Did you know that Shine can throw quite a hissy fit?”

“… What?”

Ellianna facepalmed, groaning. “Not this again.”

“What do you mean not this again?”

The Photographer sighed, putting her hands on her hips. “Remember when you were knocked out by Wilson? Shine threw a fit over that, yelling and hissing to Wilson that it wasn’t the right thing to do in this kinda situation, and Hunny sort of… joined in? But after that they became best friends.”

“… So Shine threw a hissy fit again?” I inferred.

Rosemary nodded, her ponytail bobbing wildly. “This time she threw a hissy fit because Justine ruined her mascara.”

“… What the hell?” How did that sort of thing even _happen_? “How?!”

The green eyed girl grinned mischievously. “He was downstairs, stalking-“

“ _Watching,_ ” Jenita corrected.

“- _watching_ Mika piggyback on James instead of investigating properly, and Shine didn’t notice him on the floor, and tripped on him while she was doing her makeup.” Rosemary shrugged, though I could see that she found the very idea amusing. Her creepy smile gave everything away, I swear. “She dragged him off to the Main Building to give him a proper talking-to without disturbing the rest of us investigating Bordner; didn’t you hear her on the way here?”

“How come I’m always the last one to know things like this?!” I complained, crossing my arms and sulking. Honestly, it was true; it was like everything happened when I wasn’t around and everyone just _HAPPENED_ to be there when _I_ wasn’t, and it just so happens every time that something _INTERESTING_ happens when I am at least a few meters away from it or oblivious to it. “Seriously though, I didn’t hear her.”

“You’re deaf.” Jenita said bluntly. “Either that, or you’ve learned to tune out her hissy fits, which is im _paw_ sible unless you’ve heard her fit during your blackout.”

My eye twitched irritably. “…”

“Riiiight…” Ellianna latched onto my arm again. “WELL, we’ll be checking out the other music room now. Bye, guys!”

“See you at lunch or something!” Jenita waved goodbye just as Ellianna and me turned a corner, which led into a similar hallway towards one door at the end – probably the other music room. At this, Ellianna ran over, opening the door, only to scream, which made me almost trip as I ran over.

“DRUMS!!!”

Ellianna practically threw herself at the drum set in the corner, while I examined the rest of the instruments in the room. From the outside, it looked like a small room, but once you got inside, it’s actually really big – bigger than the other music room. There was a large harp sitting in a corner beside a collection of string instruments hanging on the walls and leaning against them – violins, cellos, ukuleles, guitars, they pretty much had them all, while a grand piano was sitting in another corner, with what looked to be a pair of cymbals sitting on top. Flutes and various other air-type instruments – aerophones? – were on little stands in another corner, near the place where most of the membranophones were sitting. Oh hell, was that a saxophone?

“Bea would _love_ this place.” I mumbled, taking a nearby violin from its place on the wall and taking a bow, running said bow on the strings in an attempt to make something sound. The result was a strange wailing sound, which immediately made me wince.

Ellianna stopped fiddling with the drum set in the corner to stare at me. “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know!” I confessed, returning the violin and bow to their places. “I can’t play an instrument for the life of me, okay?”

The Photographer only sighed, turning back to the drums. “Well… guess we’re done here for this building. Y’know, you can go back down to the others now, if you want. I’ll just be sitting here… with my precious drums… precious…”

“… Riiiight… I’ll just be going now.”

**[INVESTIGATION OVER]**


	11. Attack on MAPEH: (Ab)Normal Days - Practice Course Education

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which various shenanigans ensue after the first trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wheee my back hurts but meh i think i've introduced everyone already now to prepare the pictures or something

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH – (AB)NORMAL DAYS - PRACTICE COURSE EDUCATION]**

The moment I set foot on the ground floor in the Bordner Building after leaving Ellianna to her own devices, I was kidnapped. Well, not exactly; a hand had covered my mouth and an arm had dragged the rest of me into some sort of dark hallway next to a nearby ‘staff room’ that someone else had investigated earlier – I think Nathan and Wilson were investigating there, but meh. Struggling, I tried to wriggle free from my captor’s grasp, when a voice hissed, “Shut up!”

“Justine?!” I broke free, turning around, only to be met with the steely gray eyes of the SHSL Attorney/Cyborg, who raised a finger to his lips; a universal symbol for ‘SHUT-THE-HELL-UP’. I was about to protest, when I noted something; he seemed to be radiating… _resentment_. Negative emotions were rolling off of him in waves, and although he didn’t seem to notice it, I could. “… What’s going on?”

“… Don’t use that way back to the canteen.” The boy mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Take this passageway to the Lover’s Lane into the Amadome if you want to go to the canteen.”

“But why?!”

“Don’t ask questions, just _go!_ ” And with that, Justine practically shooed my sorry butt away from the Bordner building, abandoning me at Lover’s Lane… in front of the retail store. Grumbling, I brushed myself off, thinking, _what was THAT guy’s problem? It’s like someone messed with… with whatever he’s made of, or something._

As I sulkily walked towards the canteen, I was briefly reminded of the fact that it’s only been two days since I’ve arrived at Axiom Science, and already, four of us were dead. _Aiel, Hunny, Arfel, Joshua… it’s only been two days… and you’re already dead… w-why…_

“Dammit!” I paused next to one of the columns holding up the Amadome and thumped my fist against it in anger. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to know Hunny, Joshua and Arfel properly – hell, I wasn’t even close enough to Aiel, and she was the SHSL Friend – and they were all dead. Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead… this couldn’t be real.

I yelled at the empty Amadome, my voice echoing. “GOD DAMN IT, MONOCAT!!!”

Slumping against said column, I sank down to the ground, frustrated. I held my head in my hands as thoughts did a barrel roll through my mind. _This is all Monocat’s fault. This… the high school of mutual killing, Joshua murdering them… it’s all her fault…! Joshua would never… would never murder anyone without reason…!_

 ** _But you don’t know him that well,_** an annoying little voice told me. **_And you didn’t know the other three that well either. Anything can happen with people you don’t know that well. You didn’t expect Aiel to have been targeting Joshua, did you?_**

 _Well, no…_ I admitted to myself, before shaking my head and wincing. _But still! She never would’ve been driven to that if Monocat hadn’t shown us those videos! Those videos were what made her do it!_

**_But that’s why they were called ‘motives’, weren’t they?_ **

_… I’m not talking to you anymore._ I told the annoying voice in my head as I looked up at the sky… or the fake sky, more or less. It was still blue, but the shade was different, which meant that it was probably just some sort of screen or something, that changed like the real sky, to make it seem like the real sky. I wouldn’t have known it wasn’t the real sky until Monocat had said so, honestly; it really looked realistic.

“…” I still couldn’t grasp what I was feeling. Anguish? Frustration? It was something like that, but on some sort of different level. Everything here… everything just wanted to make me scream. I wanted to tear off every single strand of hair on my head and strangle the hell out of everything… but I couldn’t. It was just that kind of feeling of hopelessness.

Maybe that was it. Hopelessness.

I walked to the canteen silently without another word.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

When I arrived at the canteen for lunch, there was nobody there to greet me with a smile that could outshine the sun anymore. I looked around for a moment, confused, before remembering that Aiel wouldn’t be there to greet me anymore with her cheerful and friendly grin. That thought made me frown as I took my usual place. Today’s fare was apparently pasta, but I didn’t feel hungry yet.

Not everyone was here; Ellianna was still notably missing, as was Daenna and Shine. Rafael too. And a few others; I couldn’t tell who, though.

“Hey Marc.” I chanced a glance, and saw Bea giving me a concerned look. “Are you okay? You look down in the dumps.”

“Well, he _did_ just see someone get executed.” Andrea commented lightly, taking a bite out of a meatball from the spaghetti platter.

Ina groaned, her head being cradled by her arms, which were folded on the table. “Can we _please_ not talk about that? We’re kinda eating right now?”

“Well, either way, Paula’s not eating.” Andrea shrugged, and I looked at Paula. Indeed, the SHSL Writer wasn’t touching her plate at all; the poor girl looked haunted as she stared at pretty much nothing, her face paler than a sheet. Minutes after the execution, she was still talking, thankfully, but now… it was like she was nothing but a lifeless porcelain doll with a face meant to represent the horror of seeing someone’s friend being executed right before your eyes.

… I just lost my appetite.

“James, you’re going to _drop_ me! Stop doing that!”

“Mm… how about… no.”

 “Are you trying to- STOP THAT!”

Speaking of lifeless porcelain dolls…

James was carrying Mika in a very painful position – slung over his back like she was nothing but a sack. Mika was thumping her fists on his back, yelling, in an attempt to make him let go, while the boy was whistling ‘I’m Sexy and I Know It’, strolling towards Mika’s seat casually as if he wasn’t carrying a girl with a potentially harmful talent on his shoulder. But then again, with her current state of fragility, she wasn’t capable of using her talent properly, so… technically, she was just a normal girl right now. A normal girl with minor psychic abilities. Wow.

“Let me _go!_ ” Mika demanded. “I refuse to allow you to carry me like this any longer!”

“Suit yourself.” And with that, James promptly dropped her onto her seat with an ‘oof!’, the girl landing in a really unladylike posture on the chair. She sent James a dirty look as the Singer continued whistling towards his seat, which was a few seats away.

I raised an eyebrow. “Uh…”

“Don’t ask.” Mika grumbled, before inspecting the food laid out on the table. “Ooh, lasagna, my favorite.”

And I didn’t ask. I was too afraid to.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Once lunchtime ended, I found myself alone again; walking aimlessly around the school’s various hallways. Right now, I was walking through the hallway of bedrooms. I honestly half-expected that all of this was just a dream, and that Aiel would be running to greet me from across the grounds with a smile that put the sun to shame. A part of me wanted to hear Hunny excessively proclaiming the good K-Pop news to all, and another part of me wanted to just sit down somewhere and talk with Arfel about various animes.

I closed my eyes momentarily, trying to picture it…

… And then I tripped over something while trying to picture the thing.

I apparently set off something, because suddenly tables and chairs and various props that probably came from the Little Theater popped out of nowhere in various places. I didn’t even _see_ them there, oh my god.

“ARGH, DAMMIT!” A voice yelled from somewhere, and I looked up to see a glasses-wearing girl stomping down the corridor towards me, her face murderous. Behind her, I could see another girl, adamantly fixing up the ‘mess’ I made by tripping over – wait, what did I trip on?

I looked at my shoe. Oh; there was a trip wire.

“What the heck is wrong with you?!” The first girl raged upon reaching me. I stood up, minding the trip wire, as she continued to rant, “This is probably my only chance at practicing my talent, and you mess things up by ruining the whole course! Why didn’t you see the trip wire?!”

“I don’t know!” I shot back, a bit annoyed. “I didn’t know anything, okay?!”

“Oh, so you don’t know anything, huh?!” For a girl her size, she was freaking _loud_. She jabbed a finger at my chest as she replied, “You don’t know anything? You don’t know your own name? Is that it? Are you just that stupid?!”

Dear Gods, I think I’ve found someone I disliked more than Charles. “Of course not! Are you kidding me?!”

“Well, you should have made that clear!” The girl huffed, crossing her arms before eyeing me intently. “Hey, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced to each other. I’m Juneth, and she’s Juis.” She jabbed a thumb at the other girl, who waved awkwardly while trying to balance a table near the wall. I waved back.

**JUNETH MAGBANUA – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ESCAPE ARTIST**

 

Now _here’s_ a talent that could be useful in escaping this place. But alas, apparently even Monocat thought ahead, and her talent has currently been rendered useless in our situation. Juneth is like the young female Houdini of the Philippines – she’s escaped an iron cage underwater while her hands were cuffed to the floor of said cage, with _sharks_ swimming around her, and she’s run through so many insanely dangerous survival courses that the snakes and other dangerous creatures don’t even _bother_ trying to chase her anymore; she’s just that cool.

**JUIS GACIAS – SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ???**

 

I… have no idea what Juis’s talent is. I honestly have _no idea._ I haven’t seen anybody talking about her in any forums so far, and her presence is clouded with mystery. Either that or I really just don’t look hard enough. But I digress.

Juneth sighed, looking back at the course. “Ever since Rafael lost his roommate, he’s stopped hanging out with me and Juis and stopped helping us set up my training courses. It kinda sucks.”

“Wait, you’ve been hanging out with Rafael?” This was new. Ugh, why was I always the last one to witness friendship developments around here?! “I didn’t know that.”

Juneth shrugged. “There are a lot of things you don’t know. You know, ‘cause you’re pretty much asleep every time we’re having fun.”

“You’ve got a point… but still!”

“Well, either way,” Juis approached us, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. “I fixed up the course the best I could, June. Hope it looks okay.”

Juneth smiled a little. “Now we just gotta wait for Areola, then!”

“Why?” I was mystified. Why would they be waiting for Ellianna?

Juis rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. “She’ll be joining us, duh! She’s gonna run through the course alongside Juneth!”

“She’s gonna videotape and take pictures of the whole thing,” Juneth said proudly. Her smile grew bigger at this. “And then she’s gonna assemble it all into a cool video that she’ll publish once we get out of here! Isn’t that totally neat-o?”

I smiled; at least _some_ people were being optimistic around here. I was sort of getting sick of people sounding so resigned. “Yeah, that sounds awesome! Although…”

“Although, what?”

“… How am I supposed to get to my room like this?”

We all looked at the largest table in the course. It was leaning on my bedroom door.

“… Juis, we’re gonna need a fork, a bag of potatoes, and a huge catapult.”

“… But we don’t have a catapult, Juneth.”

“Then we’re gonna need a bag of rubber bands, some super glue, sequins, and two of Jenita’s claws.”

“But that’s dangerous!”

I could only sigh. This would take a little while.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**8:00 P.M.**

… Like I said, it took a little while.

Most of the Kepler students who were roommates in the same hallway as me – Wilson, Bismarck, Daenna, Reymon, Ina, Dave, Rafael, Bonn, Nahan, Rose, Jenita, Eugene, Dara, Ana, Charles, Bea, Arah and Nathan – were gathering behind me, watching as Juneth and Juis scrabbled all over the place trying to dismantle the whole setup without potentially destroying anything. It’s a miracle Monocat hasn’t told us off yet.

“What’s going on here?!”

**_Speak of the fricking devil._ **

Monocat popped up on the nearest screen, looking very confused and pissed off. “What’s going on?! It’s almost eight, and you all haven’t had dinner yet! And to think I actually put more effort into preparing your dinner this time!”

“Juneth and Juis made a mess in the dorm hallways.” Arah said dryly, a hand on her waist as she used the other to push up her glasses, which were nearly falling off her face. “We’re just waiting for them to allow us access to our rooms.”

Monocat’s mews were semi-sympathetic. Note that I said _semi_. “Aww, you poor darlings. Well, no matter, you have to clean up your messes. Maybe I should add that as a rule, hm? Or maybe I can modify an existing rule… I don’t know…”

A beep resounded in my pocket, and I took out my student I.D., examining it.

**17\. If you make a mess in the hallways or any other portion of the school, you must clean it up or suffer the consequences.**

“Wouldn’t this necessarily overwrite rule number one?” Charles questioned. “I mean, if these chairs get destroyed, aren’t they technically property of this school?”

Monocat raged. “Technicalities, technicalities! You are free to interpret the rules however you want, so I’m free to interpret them however I want too! And besides, isn’t ruining the mirror in the bathroom called destroying of property?! I didn’t punish you for that, did I?!”

“… That’s because the one who did it was already dead.” Wilson’s voice was flat as he looked at Monocat.

“…” The two-toned cat we called our ‘principal’ was silent for a few moments before she huffed. “Just hurry up and get to dinner! We’re having a meat-lover’s special!” And with that, the screen shut off.

“Aaaaand done!” Juneth cheered from her place across the hallway. “Juis, get down from there, you’re going to –“

“AAHHH!!!” _Thump!_

“- fall.”

Kyle – wait, when did he arrive here? - ran past me and skidded to a stop in front of Juis, holding out a hand to her. “Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, thanks.” Juis took Kyle’s hand and stood up shakily, rubbing her side. “Ugh, I’m such a klutz, sorry. You didn’t need to help me up.”

Kyle flashed an award-winning smile in her direction. At least, I think it was his attempt at one. “I still did, didn’t I? C’mon Juis, we all gotta go to dinner now. We can get some ice for your side later.”

“Okay. OH GEEZ, IT HURTS!”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Apparently, Monocat’s idea of a meat lover’s special included a huge roasted _lechon_ , or basically a pig.

Not that I’m complaining or anything. I love _lechon_.

Most of the boys were practically fighting over the _lechon_ , while the others were trying as hard as they could to stick to the smaller platters, like the various barbecued… things. There were bottles of steak sauces and barbecue sauces scattered all over the table, and I think there were even a few bottles of Tabasco sauce.

 Aisley had one foot on her part of the table and the other on her seat, brandishing a bottle of barbecue sauce above her head. “Avast, ye scurvy dogs! The Marquise Mindfang now owns every single bottle of whiskey on this here table!” And with that, she… oh my god, she took a swig from the bottle.

“Aisley, get down from there, you’re drunk on barbecue sauce.” Joan grumbled, tugging on Aisley’s pants. “And besides, who drinks barbecue sauce?! You’re crazy!”

Aisley laughed hoarsely. “Who is this ‘Aisley’ you speak of? I am the great Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, the greatest pirate in the history of Alternia, and this is me claiming all of your whiskey!” She attempted to take another swig, but instead she fell over… on Joan. The poor girl ‘eep’ed as she got crushed by the slightly lanky girl.

“Christ…” Ellianna grumbled. I watched as the photographer hauled the ornithologist off the dancer, who was gasping for breath underneath her, and continued to watch as she proceeded to shake Aisley by the shoulders. “Aisley, snap out of it, you crazy bird freak! For god’s sakes, you’re not supposed to _drink_ barbecue sauce!”

Aisley only gave Ellianna a lopsided grin. “But barbecue sauce is the gift of the gods, Areolaaaa…”

“Fucking hell…”

From across the table, Mika took a sip from her teacup. I have no idea where she got that teacup. “You don’t see me drinking barbecue sauce like a barbarian, ‘Mindfang’.” You could pretty much hear the air quotes around that name. “Now sit down and eat dinner.”

“Your ribs are practically drowning in barbecue sauce.” Ina swiftly pointed out. And indeed they were; the baby back ribs currently on Mika’s plate were soaked to the bone with delicious, mouthwatering barbecue sau- I should shut up, I should shut up, I should shut up and eat my food, it’s delicious and I need to enjoy it.

Mika gave her a dirty look. “Oh shush you.” And with that, dinner became a silent affair once more.

… Until Arvin accidentally turned his jacket into a huge martini glass filled with iced tea.

See, his jacket is… waterproof, mostly. I think so, anyway. He can wash it in the washing machine just fine, but imagine a reverse umbrella collecting rain like a cup above your head. That would be the most accurate description of the collar surrounding half of Arvin’s face right now.

“Oh MY GOD, ARVIN, DRAIN YOUR COLLAR!”

“How does this sort of shit even happen?”

“What the actual heckaroonie?!”

“Heckaroonie is such a strong word. I prefer frickle frackle.”

“THAT’S EVEN WORSE!”

I could only sigh as I folded my arms on the table and rested my head on them. Again, this would take a while.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**9:50**

The good news was that they managed to drain all of the iced tea from Arvin’s collar. The bad news is that Arvin’s really pissed. Turns out that the inside of his jacket was lined with plastic to keep the iced tea away from his clothes, and he was literally keeping cool in there with the drink coming through little straws.

Man, I wish I thought of that.

“Maaaaaan, I’m tired.” Dave stretched his arms above his head while yawning loudly, the rest of us nodding in agreement with him. I actually felt inclined to fall asleep right then and there, but that wouldn’t be fun; the floor was dirty, and for the matter I preferred my bed, no matter how much you forced me to sleep on the ground.

“G’night… guys…” I yawned, attempting to cover my mouth, only to feel even sleepier than before. God, I need some shut eye… With a chorus of yawns and ‘good nights’, we all split up into our various rooms, and for a few moments, everything was quiet again as we all unlocked our rooms with our keys. And then…

“EEEEEYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Electricity coursed through my body as I recognized the scream. _Ana!!!_

Within moments the rest of my body woke up, and I proceeded to barrel my way towards the room where Aiel used to sleep with Ana, and then, I was greeted with a sight both welcome and _very_ , **_very_** unwelcome.

Aiel’s dead body.

“Hhh… hh…” Ana shivered like a leaf beside me as I ventured closer, examining Aiel’s body from a few decimeters away. She looked to be in good condition; her body was perfectly preserved, actually, lying on a long glass coffin sitting next to the bed Ana was going to sleep in. The body was laid on a bed of yellow roses with red tips, and a crown of similarly colored roses sat on her head, her hands clasped together, and a peaceful smile on her face. The place where she was stabbed was nonexistent; the shirt had been stitched up, good as new, and the chair leg was nowhere to be found. And if I had to guess, the wound underneath the stitched up shirt was stitched up too.

I couldn’t speak; I was at a huge loss for words right now. What kind of… what kind of… “What kind… of sick fuck… what kind of sick fuck did things like this?! And… if Aiel’s body was preserved inside a glass coffin in a bed of roses… did that mean Arfel and Hunny…

“AAAAAGHHHH!!!”

“YAAAAAAAH!!!”

Well, looks like my suspicions were confirmed.

I bid goodbye and condolences to the quivering Baker, who shakily closed the door to the room she now had all to herself… mostly. Aiel, or rather her body, was now back in her room, and quite frankly, technically that meant she was sharing a room with her… or something. I’m not one for details sometimes. But only sometimes.

Jogging over to the room labeled **RAFFY** and **HUNNY** , I found the door wide open, and Rafael on his knees, staring at yet another glass coffin, this time with Hunny inside. When I moved closer, I discovered that for Hunny, the roses were leaning towards a particular shade of reddish orange, with the tips being pure red and the petals fading into orange; this also applied to the crown of roses on _her_ head, apparently. Her hands were placed on top of her chest, crossed above her heart, or more commonly known as ‘the place where she got stabbed with glass shards’. However, what made things different was that Hunny’s mouth was tilted into a frown. Eyebrows crinkled, she looked like she was having a bad dream… except she was dead, of course.

With my right arm, I reached out to pat Rafael’s shoulder sympathetically. It must’ve been hard, having a roommate for only a few days before seeing their dead bodies and discovering their stitched up bodies in glass coffins filled with flowers in your shared room. “Condolences, Raffy.”

“… Eh, I’m not too bothered.” Rafael shrugged before yawning loudly. “The only difference’ll be that Hunny’s actually quiet for once.”

“That’s a somewhat terrible thought to be thinking about, Rafael.”

“Don’t turn into Rosemary on me, Marc.”

I raised my hands in surrender. “Alright, geez, I won’t. But seriously, what if Hunny heard you up there in heaven?”

“I couldn’t care less.” Rafael rolled his eyes, and yawned loudly again, stretching his arms. “We-ell, I’m gonna go snooze now. Shoo.” And with that, I was shooed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind me. I looked back, staring at the mini sprite figure of Hunny on the door, before shrugging and heading back to my room…

… But not before bumping into Juneth, who looked like she had seen a ghost. She must’ve been Arfel’s roommate. I mean, who else would look terrified at this hour?

“Arfel?” I asked. When she nodded, I continued, “Dead? Body stitched up? In a glass coffin?” The Escape Artist’s eyes grew glassy as she nodded blankly at each word, and I sighed, palming my forehead before allowing her to lead the way to their room, where Arfel was nestled in his own coffin of golden roses, a slightly smaller crown of lighter colored yellow roses nestled snugly on his head. He looked troubled as well; his brows were furrowed, and his mouth was curved into a frown as well.

Juneth’s hand glided over the cover of Arfel’s glass coffin slowly. “He seems frustrated,” She commented quietly, her face devoid of emotion. The ‘deer-in-headlights’ look she had before was gone now, but seeing her like this was kinda scary, because I kind of just officially met her today. “Wonder what’s he’s thinking of?”

“The brain doesn’t work after we’re dead, Juneth.” I reminded her.

She laughed tonelessly. “I can imagine, can’t I? Now, I need to get some sleep.” She yawned a little, taking off her glasses, before turning to her bed, saying, “Good night, Marc.”

“Good night, Juneth.” And with that, I exited her – _their_ – room, and pretty much shot straight for mine, practically jumping into my pajamas before leaping into my bed, closing my eyes.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**33/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	12. Attack on MAPEH: (Ab)Normal Days - Examination Of The Mind's Desires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marc discovers the horrors of shipping. Oh, and somebody gets a little worked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> psssst im not dead
> 
> on a side note im on my rp blog on tumblr

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH – (AB)NORMAL DAYS, DAY 4: FREE TIME EVENT #3: ROSEMARY, JENITA]**

**8:00 AM**

_DING DONG~!!!_

“Nnghhh…” I rolled over, groaning, only to yell as I fell out of my bed… _again_. Ugh, why did I keep lying down on the edge?!

With a frustrated mumble, I stumbled over to the door in my pajamas, nearly bumping my head on the wall in my confused daze. To be honest, I felt like I’d gotten a huge hangover, even though I hadn’t actually done _anything_ that would constitute me having one. But I digress.

Turning the doorknob, I opened the door to find Rosemary, already dressed up in her everyday clothes, with a smile on her face, and her clipboard in hand. “Hello, Marc~! Had a good night’s sleep?”

“I fell out of bed.” I said bluntly.

The Therapist cooed. “Ooh, you poor baby~!” I made a face at this. I wasn’t a _baby_. “But anyway, would you kindly get dressed, please? I would like to perform an experiment today, and it would make my skies even bluer if you helped me out!”

“Uh…” I didn’t reply at first; what if Rosemary was planning to kill me? What if she was just a pawn in someone’s murder attempt or something? _What if, what if…_ I contemplated this for a few moments as Rosemary rocked back and forth on her heels impatiently, crossing my arms in thought.

She whined, “Oh, _come on~!_ You’re just going to help me test a theory I’ve formulated the other day, okay~?”

“Well…” If she said so… Rosemary seemed harmless enough… and besides, who’d want to use _her_ as a pawn? She didn’t seem like the type, anyway, now that I thought about it. “Okay, I guess.”

“THE SKY IS BLUE~!!!” The Irish – I _assumed_ she was Irish? Her looks seemed to have Irish hints to them, or maybe she just had Irish heritage (I would never know unless I asked her) – girl cheered before shoving me back inside, saying, “Now get dressed, I’ll wait out here, okay?” And with that, she slammed the door on me.

… Huh.

-=-=-=-=-

Minutes later, I found myself tagging along on Rosemary’s ‘theory proving’ experiment… thing… or something, with, surprisingly enough, Charles and Bea, the latter looking at least half-interested while the former looked a lot more concerned with his unruly hair, which the latter was trying to fix. I, on the other hand, was busy trying to figure out what the hell Rosemary was up to.

“Rose, can you please explain again _what_ this theory is all about?” I asked as we skidded to a near stop in front of the Bordner building.

Rosemary smiled, placing a hand on her hip. “I’ve been hypothesizing the different possible romances here in our class!”

“… You dragged me all the way out here for _that?!_ ” Charles thundered, at which Rosemary nodded ever so gleefully. The Translator sighed, palming his face, before saying in an exasperated tone, “Exactly what possessed you to hypothesize the different romances in this ‘class’?”

The fiery haired girl twirled her hair. “Well, y’see, it was Jenita who put the idea in my head-“

“Did somepawdy call my name?”

“GAAAAH!” The three of us – minus Rosemary – jumped as Jenita popped out from what seemed like _nowhere_ , giggling and purring maniacally as she sidled up next to her roommate, who was laughing her heart out at our terrified reactions.

“Mrowr, you’re all a riot!” Jenita’s smile was as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s, heterochromic eyes twinkling. “So what’re you all talking about?”

“Forget that, _where the hell did you come from?!”_ I asked, completely dumbfounded. My heart was still hammering from the mini-heart attack Jenita’s sudden appearance gave me. “It’s like you materialized out of thin air!”

Rosemary shrugged. “Mm, now that you mention it, where _did_ you come from? That’s a curious ability, indeed.”

“A meowgician nefur reveals her secrets!” Long sleeves flailed in the air as the Fangirl giggled again, apparently oblivious to the fact that Charles was flushed an angry red at her unwillingness to say _where the hell she came from_. “But seriously, what were you talking about?”

Bea took hold of the reigns this time, trying to appease everyone. “We were talking about how you put an idea into Rose’s head about romance.”

“Oh!!!” Suddenly the catlike girl seemed all the more agreeable. “Well, I am furry perceptive sometimes, and recently, I’ve begun to notice signs of growing relationships between our classmates! Isn’t that pawsitively WONDERFUL~?”

My reply was, “Well, of course yeah!”

“Heck yeah it is!” Was Bea’s.

And then came Charles’s “Quite frankly, no.”

“How come?” Rosemary’s pen was hovering over her pad of paper precariously, ready to jot down the Translator’s answer, probably to ponder on it later. “You are currently the only one opposed to having a relationship with anyone here! Would you care to clarify?”

Charles shrugged. “I find the mere idea silly because we’re all going to end up getting killed anyway, and forging bonds will just make everything worse, because then we’ll all end up moping around like Paula.”

Oh. _OUCH._

“Hey, that’s not true!” Bea turned to her roommate, a bit angry. “Paula and Joshua were good friends, so it was understandable that she’d be feeling like that right now! And they were roommates, so they had to have had some sort of interaction that was less than cordial, right?”

Charles’s voice was taut. “She wouldn’t necessarily care if she wasn’t attached to Joshua, now, would she? And we barely saw their interaction anyway, so who’s to say that her reaction is greatly unwarranted? What if she just put on a show because everyone expects her to feel sadness for losing her roommate? Writers tend to be overemotional. ”

“Now that’s just being mean!”

“I’m just being realistic.”

“H-hey, we shouldn’t be fighting here…” I tried, stepping in between the roommates and pushing them apart at arm’s length from each other. Bea was breathing heavily, hands clenched into fists at her sides, while Charles was trying to fix his tie in an aggravated manner, though it wasn’t really working. “Guys, this isn’t the right place to fight, okay?”

“Interesting, interesting…” Rosemary mumbled, scribbling on her clipboard absently. Jenita was chasing her fake tail. “Continue, Marc.”

I stared at her. “Uh… right… so,” I turned to the other two, who looked ready to explode at the slightest provocation. “Could you all calm yourselves right now? Calm yo tits.”

“Charles doesn’t have any.” Jenita pointed out.

Bea shook her head violently. “Oh, nuh-uh, girl, I’m his roommate! He most definitely has ‘tits’!”

“This isn’t the time and place to be discussing something like this!” Charles’s face was slowly turning a hideous shade of magenta in his embarrassment. “Marc, why’d you have to use that euphemism?!”

I could feel the tips of my ears turning red. “W-well…”

“WILL EVERYBODY PLEASE SHUT UP!?”

Eyes wide, we all turned around at the sound of the scream. When we saw nothing, we all looked at each other, before it screamed again, “UP HERE, IDIOTS!” At this, we looked up. The voice belonged to none other than Juneth, who was currently… crawling on the wall? Beside Dave?

_What._

“… I’m not even going to ask why you’re both up there and how you got up there.” Charles groaned, massaging his temples before turning to Bea. A frustrated look crossed his face before he sighed and mumbled, “…I… I’m… sorry.”

I raised an eyebrow as Bea placed a hand on her hip, turning to him. “I’m sorry; I couldn’t quite hear you over the radiating waves of prickery.”

“I-I’m sorry…!” Charles’s voice cracked at the end, which made Rosemary and Jenita snicker. He gave them a dirty look before pulling at his collar nervously, grumbling, “I shouldn’t have said that bonds are… necessarily bad…”

“Aaaaand?” Bea wasn’t satisfied yet, apparently.

The Translator sighed. “… and I’m a first-rate douchebag that deserves to fall from a cliff.”

“All right, I forgive you, ya huge prick.” I couldn’t help but feel the slightest twinge of jealousy as Bea extended her arms out to Charles and gave him what could only be described as her smashing his face against her chest – unwillingly. It looked like she had intended to give him a hug, but… yeah.

The poor – lucky? I don’t even know anymore – guy’s face was turning redder than Rosemary’s hair – if that was even _possible_ – as Bea hugged him and it only continued to get redder as the minutes passed. I watched with a smirk as he tried to flail around for Bea to let go, only to sigh and give up moments later, letting his face get buried even deeper.

“Bea… I don’t think he’s breathing anymore.” Dave stated blandly, inching towards the nearest wall and climbing down slowly, so as not to hit his face on the floor. A very faint sucking sound was heard as he climbed down, and, if I narrowed my eyes, I could see little suction cups on his fingers and shoes.

Typical secret agent.

Bea blinked, and then released the translator, who was currently blue in the face from lack of air. As the guy wheezed and attempted to breathe again, I turned to Rosemary, asking, “Can we _please_ get things over with _now_? _PLEASE?_ Before any more fights break out?”

“Sure! Though watching fights is kinda fun too!” Rosemary grinned cheerily, and I groaned, “JUST TAKE US TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, OKAY?”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Turns out, watching everyone interact is kinda fun. And I can kind of see where Jenita was going with the whole ‘developing relationships’ thing now. While we were walking to our final destination, I chanced a glance at Rosemary’s clipboard, and saw that the paper actually had everyone’s names on it, and lines were going to and fro on the paper, connecting names together and that sort of thing.

The list was bordering ‘doctor’s handwriting’ messy; Joshua and Paula had been crossed out with a little note (‘probably still grieving? Will investigate later~’), while Andrea and Arfel had been encircled with another note (‘more investigation NEEDED~!!!’). Dave and Ina had been encircled with a little heart (‘OTP!’) in it, while there was a thick line between Eugene, Dara and Arah, with question marks on it and another note (‘triangle??? Not so sure~’).

Man, she was _obsessed_.

“I see you like my list of ships~!” Rosemary’s voice snapped me out of my reverie, and I jerked away, babbling apologies for snooping. The Therapist giggled at my reaction, and I nervously tugged at my sleeve, mumbling ‘sorry’s every other second. “Mm, that’s okay; you can view it if you want! Just don’t ruin this next ship for me~!”

And with that, the clipboard was passed into my hands as our group flounced down the hallway – well, rather, Rosemary and Jenita flounced around, singing something along the lines of ‘FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC~!!!’ while Charles and Bea brisk walked after them, the latter smiling and the former scowling slightly at the other two. I jogged after them as I flipped through the pages idly, viewing Rosemary’s ‘ships’.

Her clipboard held pages for everyone in our ‘class’, it seemed; there was a page dedicated to ships for Arfel, and Hunny, and even Bismarck. As I flipped through them, I couldn’t help but have the sinking feeling that mine wouldn’t have any ships in it, and I sighed, turning the page…

… only to be knocked backward as the bright splash of _pink_ that covered my face entered my line of sight. Well, not literally, but you get my point.

There were other ships on my page, but the most prominent ones were encircled in bright, neon _pink_. And those were ‘Marc x Aiel’, ‘Marc x Bea’, and… ‘Marc x his hoodie’.

…

WHAT THE HELL?!

“What the actual-“I was about to complain that _no_ , _I WASN’T ROMANTICALLY ATTRACTED TO MY HOODIE,_ when Rose and Jenita suddenly halted, signaling frantically for everyone to shut up with their hands and, er, long sleeves. Bea and I shut up instantly, but Charles was a bit more stubborn, opening his mouth to speak. However, Jenita stuffed her sleeve into his mouth, effectively shutting him up, as we ducked behind a wall, peeking out a little to watch as Reymon and Daenna passed by, chatting idly.

“I find archery to be rather exciting, actually!” Daenna stated calmly as they loitered near the place where we were hiding. “It’s absolutely wonderful that you’ve managed to garner the title alongside your already notable SHSL Scientist title!”

Reymon rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, chuckling. “I don’t honestly see what all the hype about archery is about, actually. I’m just… er, naturally talented at it, I guess?”

“How astounding!” Daenna’s eyes seemed to glimmer with admiration as she latched onto Reymon’s arm. “I suppose the interest in archery peaked during 2012, what with the Hunger Games and all. Perhaps their admiration of Katniss brought the love for archery all of a sudden?”

The Scientific Archer shrugged nonchalantly. “Maybe, I dunno. Not really one for paying attention to trends.”

“Want to go check out what Embu and Ana are cooking up?” The Princess suggested, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I heard they were making Devil’s Food Cake and Angel Cake!”

You could practically hear the drooling in Reymon’s voice. “Count me in, Daenna! Lead the way!” And with that, the two rushed off, heading in the direction of the canteen together, Daenna’s windchime giggles echoing through the air.

“… Well, that was good, wasn’t it?” I tried breaking the silence with a positive statement.

Rosemary didn’t look pleased. “That good for nothing china doll is going to ruin everything!” The Therapist stamped her foot, looking annoyed, before crossing her arms and grumbling, “Stupid Daenna, stupid princess, stupid Reymon, stupid titles… I’m gonna… I’M GONNA… AURRRGHHH!” At the last part, she just turned to Charles and started violently shaking him.

“Wawawaauwauwauuuugh!!!” I could see Charles getting dizzier by the minute as Rosemary raged, “I’m going to _kill_ that prissy princess, I’m gonna serve her up in a stew and make Reymon eat every last drop, I SWEAR!”

Bea’s eyes widened a fraction. “Whoa, whoa, Rose, aren’t you going a bit too far?”

“…” Rosemary didn’t answer, instead choosing to let go of the Translator, who collapsed to the floor in a dizzy heap. At this, Bea knelt down, worried about her roommate, while Rosemary stalked off, still fuming, with a concerned Jenita hot on her heels. Minutes later, I was soon left alone with an unconscious Charles and an exasperated Bea.

“Why do you always attract the weird people, Marc?” The Musician lamented.

I rolled my eyes, sighing. “It’s not my fault you two hang around me so much.”

“Whatever. Now help me shake Charles awake.”


	13. Attack on MAPEH: (Ab)Normal Days - The Attack on the Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A motive is introduced, and with that... a problem arises. Or numerous problems, depending on whether or not you are a pessimist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *HISSES BECAUSE I HAVENT UPDATED IN SO LONG*
> 
> I'd recommend you check the previous chapters if you want to check out the designs of the other students! I've drawn some new ones soooooo...

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH – (AB)NORMAL DAYS - THE ATTACK ON THE MIND]**

**12:30 A.M.**

_“_ _Nyan nyan nyan nyaaaaaan~!”_

The nearest potted plant shook, and suddenly, Monocat jumped out, dancing the hula. Complete with a grass skirt, a flower crown, and various floral accessories. Oh, and a tiny custom made ukulele, apparently. It amazes me how the strings haven’t broken yet. “Oh man, that was intense! That was so thrilling~! My blood is just pumping through my veins at lightspeed at the excitement, oh my, nyahahaha~!” Each word was spoken in a rhythmical manner, as if a song.

“What do you want, Monocat?” Bea asked sharply, hoisting one of Charles’s arms over her shoulders and gesturing for me to grab the other and hoist it over mine, which I did, albeit reluctantly – Charles was _heavy_.

Monocat giggled, and then tossed the ukulele behind her as if it were nothing, abandoning the Hawaiian act. “Oh, nothing! I just wanted to tell you how Rosemary’s rage fires me up~! Ah, her anger, her jealousy… seeing her face green with envy makes me shudder with delight, haaa, haaa~!”

“That’s disturbing.” I said stoically. It was, actually, if you thought about it for a whi- okay I’ll stop.

“Oh, you wouldn’t understand our connection the way I do,” Monocat paid no attention to what I just said, instead deciding to hop closer and examine the unconscious Charles, tutting. “Oh dear, oh dear, this won’t do at all. He needs to be awake for the introduction of the next motive!”

“What makes you think we’ll kill someone with your motives _this_ time?” The Musician asked warily, hands gripping Charles’s arm semi-protectively. “Joshua killed Aiel by _accident_ -”

“-and he killed Hunny and Arfel to cover up his crime messily!” Monocat finished cheerily, clapping her paws together in glee. “That murder was a bit stereotypical, sadly, and it fits sooooo many clichés that I feel it’s been done already, but I’m quite positive that this next murder will be _much more creative!_ ”

“There _isn’t_ going to be a next murder!” Bea said harshly, gesturing for me to move. “Come on, Marc. Let’s leave this stupid robot cat here and get Chuckie back to our room.”

“You’re going to have to attend my motive meeting first!” Monocat stated matter-of-factly, moving quickly and blocking one of the only ways out of the building before we could reach it. “Speaking of which, I’ll broadcast that announcement now!” With a twirl, she disappeared behind the nearest column, and soon, the nearest screen flickered to life.

“ _Attentiioooooon, everybody~!”_ Monocat looked even more filled with glee than before. _“I require all of you to assemble in the Amadome once more for some ‘special presents’! It’ll be fun, I just know it!”_ And with that, the screen turned off. I counted off a few seconds, expecting the real Monocat – or a copy – to show up, but none did, and with that, we hauled the still unconscious Charles through the shortcut to Lover’s Lane, reaching the Amadome in record time.

Record time = ten minutes. You do the math.

“Marc! Bea!” Ina waved us over, and with little to no difficulty, we dragged Charles over, where Wilson, Arah, Mika and James were standing around as well.

The Gamer eyed Charles suspiciously. “What happened to him?”

“Rosemary shook him senseless,” I said honestly, letting go of Charles’s other arm, making Bea yelp and drop to the floor along with him. “Oops, sorry.”

“I heard the screaming, actually.” James nodded over to Mika, who crossed her arms, adding, “From what we observed, Bordner’s walls tend to amplify any sort of sound made within it, so it was natural that the sound of Rosemary ranting made its way over to us here in the Amadome.”

“Why are you- oof!” Bea shrugged off Charles’s other arm, leaving the boy on the ground for a while to brush herself off. “Why are you standing on your own two feet? James tired of carrying you?”

The Dark Magician’s face contorted into an angry look, but the red on her cheeks said otherwise. “I was simply trying to regain my bearings and give him a rest! I’m not _that_ mean!”

“I don’t mind carrying Mika,” James stated honestly, rocking back and forth on his heels slowly as he continued, “I mean, she doesn’t complain much… and it’s kinda fun, hearing her sing songs we both know.”

“You _sing?!_ ” Most of us already there turned to Mika, who flushed a darker shade of red and ducked behind the Singer, who chuckled and said, “Don’t be shy! You’ve got quite the voice for someone who’s not a Super High School Level Singer like me!”

“S-stop showering me with fake compliments and get back to being idiotic!” Mika stammered, face as red as a tomato. “W-wait, no, just… just stop doing that!”

Arah pushed up her glasses, smiling secretively. I raised an eyebrow questioningly at her, and she simply shook her head, still smiling, before glancing at one of the entrances to the Amadome. “Oh look, the others are arriving.”

Dara’s group – Rafael, Shine, Juneth, Ellianna, and Joan – started making noise from the southwestern entrance to the Amadome, entering and laughing without a care in the world, approaching our little group. Behind them, Juis followed like a lost puppy, and even farther behind them, Justine was stalking them, head hung low. Rosemary and Jenita emerged from the northwestern entrance, the latter looking as bubbly as ever, and the other looking a bit frustrated, but still relatively happy. Reymon and Daenna followed behind them, and the rest soon followed, doing whatever they were doing. I counted off five minutes before Bismarck finally arrived, apologizing _again_ for his lateness, which was brushed off. It _was_ his talent.

“Well then, is everyone here?”

Monocat popped up on the stage, cackling wildly. “This is good! I want to introduce the second motive quickly, or I’ll quickly become bored here, haaa~!”

“Just get on with it.” Rosemary grumbled, still visibly irritated.

Turning to the Therapist, Monocat purred, “Ohhh, Rosemary, my darling kitten, it looks like something – or someone – is bothering you! Would you care to share, my precious fiery haired princess? Come on, tell mama Monocat what’s ruffling your feathers-”

“Leave Rose alone!” Turning a little to my right, I saw that both Justine and Reymon had simultaneously said those words, glaring at Monocat with the intensity of a thousand suns… which wasn’t very far off for Justine and his laser eyes. At the realization that they said the same thing together, the two looked at each other, the latter surprised and a bit happy to have been supported in his ‘cause’, while the former looked really pissed that he had spoken the same thing with him.

“You stay out of this!” Justine growled, stomping closer to Rosemary and crossing his arms. “It was _your_ fault she’s pissed!”

“How is it _my_ fault?!” Reymon’s left eye twitched irritably, the normally complacent Scientific Archer now a bit annoyed. “I haven’t talked to her all morning!”

“That’s my- oh, forget it, just stay _away_ from her!” And with that, the Attorneyborg stuck close to Rosemary, growling viciously at mostly everybody who tried to move close, like a bulldog, pretty much. He didn’t try it on Jenita though – one flash of her claws made him shrink back a little, allowing the cloaked girl to take her place on Rosemary’s other side, purring contentedly.

Reymon cracked his knuckles, seemingly on a reflex, eyeing the back of Justine’s head. “That weirdo… what’s going on with him?”

“Don’t mind him, Reymon,” Daenna chided, stepping forward so that they were standing side by side. The Princess gave him a reassuring smile. “Perhaps Justine isn’t feeling quite well at the moment? Surely your relations will become better later, after this meeting, and after he’s had a good rest.”

“Exactly!” Monocat danced onstage for a bit, doing an odd little jig. “Now come on, my pretties, gather round as Mama Monocat hands out presents this Christmas Eve!”

“… But it’s not Christmas.” I deadpanned, shoving my hands into my pockets.

The cat was silent for a moment before brushing off what I said with a giggle. “Don’t be silly, Marky-kun~! If I say it’s Christmas, it’s Christmas! Now have fun with your presents!”

As she said the word ‘presents’, the Amadome’s stage opened up, and from the darkness – I _assume_ it was dark down there where it came from – emerged a _shitton_ of wrapped up presents, a la Christmas morning. Guess she wasn’t kidding with the presents, though I kind of doubt they’ll be anything worth getting excited about.

“Let’s see…” Monocat turned to the pile and began chucking present backwards. “Here’s Ana’s, here’s Wilson’s, here’s Arah’s, here’s Dara’s,” As she said each name, the present labeled with that person’s name went flying into the air, and the aforementioned student had to run to chase the ‘gifts’ with their names on them. Ana, surprisingly, did a barrel roll before she caught the present in her arms, only to sit up and start wailing a bit because she let go of it for a few moments and got the bottom all dirty.

Poor thing. I want to hug her.

“Here’s Marc’s, here’s Reymon’s, here’s Daenna’s…” Three presents went flying into the air, and I reached up, only barely catching the present wrapped in green wrapping paper. Daenna jumped up with the grace of a ballerina, catching the present the way a basketball player would catch a basketball in midair, before landing and curtsying, as if performing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Arvin clapping at this impromptu mini-performance, and Reymon looked like he was going to clap too, except…

_WHAM!_

“Oh dear! Reymon!”

Reymon’s present went flying into his face, knocking the Scientific Archer down to the ground. In concern, Daenna knelt down beside him, and, out of the corner of my eye again, I could see Arvin practically steaming behind his tall collar. Uh oh.

“Are you okay?!” Daenna asked worriedly, prying the present off his face gently. “Reymon, Reymon, speak to me!”

“… We’re gonna need some potatoes and a grenade launcher to stop him, Kyle…” was all Reymon said before the poor guy blacked out on the ground.

Arah shook her head, sighing. “Daenna, you’re his roommate, aren’t you?” When she nodded, the Secretary continued, “Take him to your room with your… ‘presents’… and make sure he gets some rest. I’ve had enough of people ending up out of commission for the rest of the day.”

“But only Charles and Reymon have been knocked out today.” I pointed out.

A flash from her glasses. “Are you questioning me, Marc?”

“… No, ma’am.”

“Good.” And with that, Arah returned her focus to Daenna and Reymon. “Ask Arvin for help in carrying him back to your room. I wouldn’t want your Highness to have a broken nail or scoliosis.”

Daenna huffed haughtily, grabbing one of Reymon’s arms and slinging it over her shoulder, similar to what Bea did. “I can carry Reymon myself, _thank_ you! I am a capable princess, and since I am his roommate, it is also my utmost duty to be the one to carry him around if he gets knocked out for no apparent reason! I bid you all adieu!” And with that, the Princess stomped away, practically dragging Reymon along for the ride, the presents tucked under her arms.

“Well that was eventful. What’s in your present, Marc?” Wilson asked curiously. He pulled out something similar to a pair of goggles, except more high tech… and obviously personalized so that it would represent his title, Gamer. “I got these virtual reality goggles.”

“Well…” Tearing at the wrapping paper, I opened up my gift and pulled out a similar pair of goggles, except they were personalized with ‘lucky’ things, like four leaf clovers and good luck black cats. “Hey, I got a pair of them too.”

“This is soooo cool!” Dave started parading around, wearing _his_ pair. “I feel like I’m working for the FBI again!”

“ _Again_?” Ina asked skeptically, holding her goggles in her hands like it was a wet diaper.

Andrea shrugged. “Well, he _is_ the Secret Agent. Give him credit.”

“Hey, be careful with those!” Monocat chided from the stage, observing the shenanigans. “I haven’t even introduced the reason for those things yet! Put them all on right now, and I’ll explain to you guys- wait, where are Reymon and Daenna?”

“They went back to their room ‘cause you clocked Reymon in the face with his present.” Juneth crossed her arms, the goggles looking a bit odd on her small face. “Now can we get on with it? I still gotta set up my next practice course.”

“In good time, my dear, in good time.” Monocat waited until most of us put on our goggles, rocking back and forth on her hind paws. I, however, hesitated, staring at the goggles. This was the second motive… should I even…?

A pair of hands reached out and placed the goggles on my face, and I turned around, meeting Bea’s smiling face. Charles looked like he was already waking up, his present sitting on the ground next to his head. “Don’t be scared, Marc. It’s just a motive, and like we said earlier: what makes Monocat think that this’ll make one of us murder?”

“Now for the second motive, my dears, I’ve asked for the help of my dear friend TV Fish!” Monocat cheered, and for a few moments, a picture of a floating fish skeleton with a television for a face showed up on the back part of the wall behind the stage. “With his help, I’ve acquired these TV Fish patented goggles, which will show you beautiful things! Just press the button on the side of the goggles, and you will be taken into a world unknown!”

 _A world unknown, huh?_ Almost in sync, we all pressed the buttons, and suddenly, something flashed through my eyes, and distorted - but still slightly understandable - sounds played in my mind.

**_I wish Marc was in our group. If he …. our group, I wouldn’t be the only … here!_ **

**_Marc! Marc! Marc, you little … get your fat ass over here! I need to … you something important!_ **

**_Maaaaaaarc, … is saying you’re a …! Are you going to … this sitting down, or are you going to … this like a …?!_ **

**_Woo, that was …! Let’s … that again!_ **

**_Hey, you …? You can … me what’s …! I’ll be able to … you… probably…_ **

**_I’m here to … to you, okay? If you ever need a …ning … I’m here, okay?_ **

**_You’re our friend, Marc! That’s why we … about you!_ **

**_Please don’t forget us, okay, Marc?_ **

**_Marc?_ **

**_Marc? Can you … me?_ **

**_Marcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarcmarc-_ **

I threw the goggles back into the box I got them from, gasping. _What… what were those… things…? Could they be…_

_Memories…?_

“Memories long forgotten can be remembered, but only if you subconsciously wish it to be so.” Monocat said slyly, purring. “TV Fish’s technology allows for easy access to your deepest, darkest memories, and your brightest, happiest memories. Memories important to your person that you have either forgotten, or have long since abandoned, if you had a terrible past.” I could see Ellianna shaking as she removed her goggles, and, judging from the expressions on the other’s faces – or the frowns on their faces – they were terrified too. I wonder what they saw…?

Strolling around the stage, Monocat sniffled. “All the flashes you saw were fragments of your most impurrtant memories. Memories you have cherished in your heart to keep forever and ever, but have evidently forgotten the moment you stepped inside this school. If you want these memories back fully, you’re going to have to kill somebody! Or some people…”

“That… that’s ridiculous!” Bea shouted, ripping off her goggles and slamming them back into their gift box, though she sounded a bit unsure of herself. “Nobody would kill over these… these unfinished memories! Who knows, they might even be fake memories you made up for all of us!”

Monocat cackled. “But you’ll never know unless you murder someone, won’t you? Kyahahahahahahahaha~!”

“…Rrgh…”  Bea looked defeated, her gaze sweeping the floor.

“Speaking of which, I’m going to set standards for this murder.” The two colored cat danced around a bit, purring and meowing and basically making various cat onomatopoeia. “For this murder, I want some ropes involved! Ooh yes, bondage~! And this time, make it even more graphic, or else I won’t fully complete your memories! If it’s a beautifully constructed murder, _and_ if you get away with it, I’ll restore _all_ your forgotten memories, not just the ones you just saw!”

Wait… what…?

“Oh, I don’t know if I already told you this, but…” Her red eye glimmered maliciously. “You have some holes in your memories, yes? C’mon, think about it!”

Actually… “… Yeah… what about them?”

“Well, y’see…” Monocat rocked back and forth on her feet again. “The holes you perceive to be there are actually nonexistent – it’s just that you seem to have truly forgotten what are in those holes! They’re _there_ – the memories, I mean – but you’ve forgotten as if you guys had amnesia! Geez, you guys are all weird: losing specific parts of your memories like that? _Weeeeeird_!”

“Uh huh; tell me more.” Shine said dryly, arms on her hips.

Seeing that her audience wasn’t pleased, Monocat continued in a more serious tone, “However, I happen to have borrowed technology from TV Fish’s generous supplier that repairs these holes in your memories, _even though they’re still technically there!_ Are you all excited?”

“Wow, the audience is very appreciative. ANYWAY,” The cat cackled. “I have full twenty four hour access to this said machine, and I’m willing to unlock your missing memories… but _only_ if you create the perfect murder! It’s a fitting reward, no? Well, toodle-oo!” And with that, she jumped into the hole in the stage, and disappeared.

Silence passed for a few more minutes. And then, Ana began to wail.

Ana was shaking from the soles of her feet to the roots of her hair. “W-w-w-w-wh… w-w-whyyyy?! WHYYYY?!” With a wail, she latched onto Kyle’s arm, gripping it tightly as if it were a stress ball. “I-I don’t want to… m-m-m-m-“

“Nobody’s going to murder anybody, Ana,” Andrea said, both reassuringly and determinedly. “Besides, those were probably fake memories. You know how Monocat is, right?”

“B-but they sounded so real…”

“That’s Monocat’s game: she’s trying to trick us into thinking they’re real.” Nathan smiled proudly at his statement. “Don’t worry, Ana, everything’s going to be fine! I swear on the restaurant I pretty much frequent every day!”

“W-well… if you say so…” Ana still didn’t look appeased, but she wasn’t wailing anymore, just trembling. “I-I trust you guys… a-and you trust me, right?”

“You couldn’t kill a fly if it landed in your cake.” Juis offered lamely, smiling a little.

A beat passed before Juneth yelled jokingly, “JUIS MADE A JOKE! Everybody, laugh so she doesn’t feel bad!”

“H-hey, that’s mean! No, stop laughing!”

I couldn’t help it; I started laughing too, pushing those holes in my memories into the back of my mind. I could contemplate on them later, but for now… I’m quite content to just hang around with the others, as if we weren’t stuck in a high school of mutual killing. I glanced at everyone. It didn’t look like anyone was going to act on this motive this time; even Justine looked relatively at ease, despite his steely gaze.

And for once, I felt at peace. They didn’t die in vain: the others learned their lesson.

_I hope you’re happy up there… Aiel… Arfel… Hunny… Joshua… I won’t forget you guys._

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**33/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	14. Attack on MAPEH: (Ab)Normal Days - Don't Forget Your Overall Health!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a new daily regimen is introduced, and a boy's boiling point is reached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow i finally updated
> 
> i've been too busy trying to draw the characters that i neglected the story so here have this chapter while i go back to drawing
> 
> also i deleted that 3rd person pov thing from the previous chapter dont mind that one okay that was a mistake on my part

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH – (AB)NORMAL DAYS - DON'T FORGET YOUR OVERALL HEALTH!]**

**_The next day…_ **

_Knock knock knock!_

With a groan, I looked at the clock in my room. 6:54 a.m.; not the most reasonable of times for me to wake up, especially in a situation like this. I was practically _steaming_ as I stood up and stomped my way over to the door. I _swear_ , I’m going to _murder_ the sorry ass of whoever’s knocking at my door this very momen-

“… and I’m going to kick his sorry ass into next- oh, hello Marc!”

I blinked, the rage disappearing from my psyche. Andrea and Joan were standing in front of me, all smiles, and in their pajamas. I could feel a blush color my cheeks at the realization that their pajamas were… ehem… kind of form fitting…

“… Marc, are you even listening to me?”

“Wha-huh?” I shook my head wildly, clearing my mind. Andrea looked a bit annoyed at this, placing a hand on her hip. “Wait, what were you saying? I stared off into space for a minute.”

The Artist rolled her eyes, saying, “Marc, we were wondering…”

“… if you would like to join the rest of us in our morning exercise?” Joan finished, twirling a strand of hair with her index finger shyly. “We pitched the idea to Dara and Eugene two days ago, but we only got around to implementing it this morning, so…”

I raised an eyebrow. “A morning exercise? Why?”

“Well, it could be… a bonding exercise!” Andrea’s green eyes glimmered cheerfully as she tapped the bottom of her fist on her other hand’s palm. “We could exercise daily together, as friends and fellow ‘classmates’! That’ll help strengthen relationships!”

“How?”

Joan tapped her chin thoughtfully, saying, “Well, think about it: would _you_ feel the urge to kill somebody if you see them experiencing the same hardships as you during morning exercises, the time of day when you’re most tired and groggy?”

“…” She had a point, somewhat. _Bet Charles would say otherwise, though…_ “… Yeah, I guess you’re right. But why come to me now?”

The Artist twiddled her fingers. “Y’see… you were the last person we went to… everyone else is in the Amadome already…”

“… in their pajamas, if you’re concerned about that.” Joan finished. “Embu and I took the liberty of suggesting that we exercise in our pajamas so that we could take cleansing and rejuvenating baths after we took a rest after the exercises! Doesn’t that sound absolutely _heavenly?_ ”

“Uh…” I shrugged helplessly. Girls were weird when they talked about baths like that. “Sure, I guess…?”

Andrea’s face lit up. “So you’re coming?”

“… I’m wide awake now, so…”

“Great!” Joan linked her arm with one of mine, Andrea doing the same with my other arm, and with that, I was escorted out of my room by two girls who looked like the happiest people in the world… for people in _our_ situation, of course. You would’ve thought that they would be sad and depressed and mopey, but _no_ : their smiles combined were almost as radiant as Aiel’s on her best days.

 _Almost_.

As we approached the rest of the class, Ellianna yawned loudly, waving me over. Y’know, now that I thought about it, these exercise things could work to my advantage: I get to see people out of their regular clothes. “Good morning, Marc.” She yawned again before saying, “Embu an’ Joan dragged you out of bed too?”

“More like I dragged myself out,” I joked, stretching, only to fall backwards as something launched itself at my back, hollering, “MARC MADE A JOKE! EVERYBODY, LAUGH SO HE DOESN’T FEEL BAD!”

Oh. _Juneth_.

Juis squeaked, running over in her nightgown and chiding, “Juneth, get off of Marc, the poor guy can’t breathe!”

“I weigh less than twenty nine kilos, are you kidding me?!” Juneth rolled her eyes at her friend before jumping off me and hollering to her right, “YO, PRINCESS, GET OVER HERE AND HELP MARC UP!”

I was expecting Daenna to come closer, honestly, but when I felt and saw that it was _Charles_ who had approached, I had to rethink my life for a bit. As he stretched out a hand, which I gladly took, I asked him, “Juneth calls you Princess?”

“Starting today she’s going to call me Princess Prickly Pants, apparently.” With a resigned shrug, Charles attempted to pull me up, only to struggle for about fifteen minutes as I refused to pry myself off from the floor. Then, with a defeated sigh, the Translator let go of my arm and pretty much laid down on my back, staring at the Amadome with a sigh.

“Uh, Charles, you’re supposed to pull me up, not restrain me from getting up?” I struggled underneath him as he sighed again, absently running his fingers through my hair. “Nope, you’re a good pillow, so stay there.”

“Rrrrgh…” I gritted my teeth as Bea jogged over in nothing but a T-Shirt and shorts, tutting at Charles while placing a hand on her hip. “Chuckie, get off him! The floor is dirty, you know!”

I pleaded, “Yes, please, get off me; the germs are spreading through my vital organs as we speak.”

“You’re my pillow, and pillows don’t talk, Marc. Now stay.” With a harrumph, Charles placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, as if falling asleep… leaving me stuck there. I groaned, ready to plant my face on the ground, when suddenly I felt the weight on my back lessen, as if nothing was lying on it anymore. Rolling over – I winced at the prospect of getting my pajamas dirty – I saw that Bea had lifted Charles up bridal style, face stoic, but her lips twitching as if she was keeping herself from smiling.

“Unhand me, ruffian!” Charles struggled in Bea’s hold, and, with a mischievous smirk, the Musician replied, “As you wish, Princess!”

“Wait, wha-“Charles barely had time to react before Bea surreptitiously dropped him flat on his butt, dusting off her hands on her shorts victoriously.

I couldn’t help but snicker as I attempted to stand up, saying “Smooth landing there, milady. Might I suggest getting a velvet pillow to cushion your majestic falls next time?”

“Can it, Marc,” Charles grumbled, standing up and brushing himself off just as a very familiar voice rang out in anger, screaming in a high-pitched voice, “JUSTINE LAUZ ASPRAH!!!” Cue Justine running in looking like he had seen all seven circles of Hell. Not that I’d know what they looked like, of course. The fully-dressed Attorney practically barreled over Juneth as he ducked behind Ellianna, who looked baffled, glancing back at him.

“Hide me!” He hissed, just as Rosemary skipped out from the doorway he had come from, humming a cheerful tune. The Therapist didn’t seem to be bothered at all by anything, so… “Justine, why are you hiding from Rosemary?”

The silver haired boy shook his head vehemently. “Not her, you idiot!” As if on cue, another person stepped out from the doorway, looking gleeful. Jenita. “Jenita?”

“ _No!”_ Justine looked ready to jump out and scream when the final person stepped out from behind Jenita, looking like a harbinger of pain.

Despite being dressed in nothing but a slightly longer than usual black laced violet camisole, Mika looked ready to wreak havoc on anyone who crossed her path, which was evident when Bismarck visibly hopped backwards on one foot away from her as she stormed closer to us, eyes practically lit aflame.

Hehehe, lit aflame.

… That was a terrible thought. I should stop thinking about ironic sentences and focus on sunshiney thoughts.

“ _Where is he?_ ” Her voice was practically dripping with acid as she clenched her fists at her sides. “ _WHERE. IS. HE?!”_

Ellianna, whistling, stepped to the side, revealing the Attorney, who yelped and attempted to run away, only to whine and complain in pain as Mika reached out and tugged at his ear. I winced, feeling his pain as the girl screamed at him angrily, using words I can’t really say right now. For one, they sounded like gibberish at the rate she was speaking them, and on another note, I think she was cursing him.

_“Hey, is this working?”_

_“I don’t think it is.”_

_“But our voices are booming out of the speakers on the sides…”_

I turned to the stage just as Dara, Andrea and Joan jogged up, Andrea’s electric blue hair bouncing in its high ponytail. I noted that unlike the rest of us, their pajama pants legs were rolled up to above their knees, probably so that they wouldn’t hinder them as they led the exercise. “ _Alright guys, gather round! The morning exercise is about to start!”_ Joan called cheerily, waving over the rest of us.

Jenita stretched, the long sleeves of her nightdress going past her hands, just like her regular outfit. Her pajamas… also had a hood, apparently, which meant I still couldn’t see her face. Dammit. “Mrroowwww, I’m not very fond of waking up earlier than I need to…”

“Ah, but the early bird catches the worm, Jenita,” Arah told her gently from my right, absently tucking a strand of fuchsia-violet hair behind her ear. It was only now that I noticed that she seemed like the neatest person around in pajamas currently, probably on par with Asprah, who was already fully dressed: her hair was tied in a low ponytail and was swept over her right shoulder, and it seemed like she had taken the time to switch out her pajama pants for shorts. “This will be quite delightful, won’t it, Marc?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think so too. This’ll be really fun, Jenita, I promise!”

“If you say so…” Jenita yawned once more before slinking over to Rosemary, who was chatting up a storm with Reymon. Daenna had abandoned her post at Reymon’s side to start up a conversation with Arvin, who presently looked flustered at her sudden request for idle chitchat. Nathan, the person _he_ had been talking to, just shrugged and went to join Wilson, Bonn, Nahangel and Kyle’s conversation, while I watched as Dave flitted to and fro from each person, but never straying too far from Ina’s back. Ana looked positively embarrassed without outgoing Aiel by her side, but from what I could observe, Shanayah had no intention of letting her shrink in a corner: she was smiling while talking to Aisley and Juis, gesturing to Ana every now and then. Eugene and Bismarck were standing on opposite sides of the stage, working on the sound system, while Rafael was… being Rafael… while hanging out with Juneth and Charles, Bea staying close by while chatting with them and another group.

“What are you looking at, Marc?”

I glanced at Arah before chuckling, sighing. “Just… observing everyone, I guess. Nothing much to do while Eugene and Bismarck are setting up the sound systems.”

“You’re worried about the rest of them, aren’t you?” The Secretary asked me, though it sounded more like an obvious statement than a question directed at me. Her crystal blue eyes softened as she continued, “You’re worried that the others were shaken up badly by the first murder, execution, and second motive.”

I cracked a small smile. “Well, yeah, in a way, I am… especially for Ana and Paula. You saw how she reacted yesterday to the motive… and Paula…”

“I’m concerned about their wellbeing as well, Marc, though quite honestly, I’ve decided to put my faith in both of them and hope for the best.” With a gentle smile, she glanced towards someone, and I followed her gaze to see Ana actually attempting to talk to the others, and smiling a little less nervously than before. “I don’t think that either of them will be able to commit a murder.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, for one, Ana wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Arah chuckled a little. “And second… do you really think Paula would want to follow Joshua’s footsteps?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know her that well to tell.”

“But I do, Marc,” The Secretary tucked another strand of hair behind her ear. “Paula knows what Joshua did was wrong, no matter what the circumstances were, and… she told me that she feels that Joshua wouldn’t have approved of her killing or taking her own life.”

“Oh?”

Arah looked distant for a moment, her eyes drifting away to glance at Paula. The Writer was currently sitting on the steps to the stage, furiously writing down something. “Paula told me… that she heard Joshua’s voice in her motive.”

“Are you serious?” Quite frankly I couldn’t believe it, but… Arah was the SHSL Secretary. I’ve never talked much to her before, but… I felt that I could trust her judgment over everyone else’s. She just seemed to hold… that sort of authority. “Was _she_ serious?”

The girl smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Do _you_ think she was serious?”

“Well, I… uh…” When I fell silent, Arah looked back at me, saying seriously, “Even though I loathe admitting it, Monocat is right. Memories long forgotten can be remembered, but only if one subconsciously wishes it to be so. Behind the doors of their room, you would have seen the bond they shared. He opened up to her and to nobody else, and she told him things only he would know.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How do you know all this? Did you witness it happening?”

“I thought you would have picked up on it by now, Marc.” Arah rolled her eyes as Eugene started cursing the sound system. “Oh dear, it looks like this’ll take a little while.”

I scoffed, watching as Bismarck attempted to calm the President down, only to fail miserably as Eugene almost kicked over the speakers in anger. “Ugh, I could still be sleeping right now.”

“We all could be sleeping right now.” Arah nodded, a smile gracing her face again, before glancing off again. I followed her gaze once more to Paula, who had now been joined by Juneth; the Escape Artist was currently peering at whatever Paula was writing, and occasionally asking something to the Writer, who looked a bit miffed to be entertaining her questions at the moment. “But we can’t honestly have everything we want all the time, can we?”

I shook my head, grinning. “Nah, guess not… wait, what do you mean, I would’ve picked up on it by now?”

“I assumed you would have picked up on what Joshua felt towards Paula, and vice versa. Haven’t you?” Arah looked visibly surprised, her eyebrows almost shooting up to her hairline. “I thought it was quite obvious; I discussed it with Andrea, and she told me it was almost as obvious as your idiot hair.”

“Idiot hair?” I reached up to touch the one lock of hair that wouldn’t fall down no matter what on my head. “No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t pick up on it…” But now that I thought about it…

Paula and Joshua were nearly always together. When we were investigating Hunny’s murder site, they both showed up and helped. Paula alone voted for someone else during the voting for who the murderer was. Paula was the only one who reacted even more violently than usual to the fact that Joshua was the murderer. It was she who asked Monocat to delay the execution for a while, but got denied of the chance to talk to him for the last time. She was the only one screaming during the execution… and the only one brave enough to approach the remains of Joshua’s body after his execution.

Suddenly, everything made just a little bit more sense.

Arah pushed up her glasses just as Eugene yelled in frustration at the speakers again. “I can tell you’ve put the pieces together. I’m surprised you haven’t picked up on this before, what with your general efficiency at picking up clues during that first murder.”

“Ehehehe… that really wasn’t all me, you know…” I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly before asking tentatively, “Uhm… so if you’re not worried about Ana and Paula… then, are you worried about anyone in particular?”

A small sigh escaped Arah’s lips. “Actually… I’m quite concerned about Ellianna.”

“Oh? Why?”

“She’s been acting quite strangely after the motive giving,” Arah confessed, taking off her glasses to clean them a bit with a cloth. “Normal people would not be able to notice the difference, but I consider myself to be quite perceptive, and well… she just seems a bit more unsettled than usual.”

“How can you tell?”

“Look,” A finger pointed in the direction of the Photographer, and I narrowed my eyes, trying to see what she could see. “Observe her general posture, the way she holds herself up. She’s a lot stiffer than she usually is, and a mere touch from someone makes her flinch.”

I raised an eyebrow. Ellianna looked… the same. Pretty much the same as usual, though Arah was right when she said that she flinched every time someone touched her arm. “… She doesn’t seem that different, Arah.”

“… Just watch out for her, alright?” When I looked back at her, I could see concern clouding her gaze. “I… I’d honestly hate for someone I considered as more than an acquaintance to get into trouble of any kind.”

 _More than an acquaintance? Does this mean we’re really friends now?_ I mused over that thought just as Dara spoke into the microphone, saying, _“Okay guys, after about what, fifteen minutes of waiting, Eugene and Bismarck finally fixed the sound system! Geez, Monocat should probably work on that… but ANYWAY!”_ The girl made a pose onstage, and Joan and Andrea soon followed behind her. “ _Into positions, everybody! We’re going to start with a relaxing warmup!”_

“I’ll speak with you again, Marc. Farewell.” And with that, Arah waved goodbye, moving towards Bea, Ina, and Juis. I waved back at her slightly, before turning to the others, pondering. Who could I hang out with this morning that wasn’t Bea?

“Heeeey, Maaaaarc!”

I looked around, my eyes landing on Jenita, who was currently waving me over. With an internal shrug, I jogged over, greeting Rosemary and Wilson, and eyeing Mika and Justine nervously. The two roommates seemed to be locked in an intense glaring contest, which I couldn’t honestly take seriously due to the mere fact that Justine’s face looked redder than usual, like he was blushing.

You do the math.

“What’s going on with those two?” I asked Jenita, jerking a thumb at the two roommates.

The Fangirl huffed, draping one of her sleeves over her forehead dramatically as well. “Nya, they are having yet another one of their lovers’ quarrels! Mika is very mad at him beclaws he slept in the bathtub the whole night instead of sleeping in the bed like he was supposed to!”

“WE’RE NOT LOVERS, DAMMIT!” Both of them shouted at Jenita, who sighed in response.

Justine raised a finger. “And for the record, Mika kicked me out of the bed.”

“I did no such thing, you lousy hunk of scrap metal!” Mika hissed. “I was on the edge of my side of the bed, as far away from you as remotely possible, to allow you to sleep on the same bed without me having to be within close proximity of you! I am _not_ that _cruel!_ ”

Wilson rolled his eyes. “Says the girl who stepped on Monocat.”

“… Shut up.” Mika fell silent after that, and looked at the stage before beginning to mimic the actions of the others for the warmups. Soon, Wilson followed, and then Rosemary, then Jenita, until finally, I followed as well, stretching my arms to the right, to the left, up, down, right, left… man, this felt like Dance Dance Revolution.

“…?” I glanced at Justine, who appeared to be in a trance. “Hey, Justine, you okay?”

“Wha?” The cyborg shook his head, snapping out of his trancelike state, before staring pointedly at me with piercing silver eyes. No really, I felt like they were stabbing me. The sharpness in them… it was unbelievable. “ _What_.”

“I asked if you were okay.” The feeling of his eyes boring into mine felt weird. “You were staring off into space for a moment there… actually… you were staring off into space for about five minutes. What were you thinking about?”

Justine pointedly looked away. “It’s none of your business. Just… just continue exercising. I think I’ll be sitting this one out.”

“If you sit this one out, you’ll be sitting out on every single one!” Rosemary stopped doing warmups for a bit to tug on Justine’s sleeve, affectionately ruffling the slightly shorter boy’s hair before looking at me and grinning. “He’s been staring at Dara this whole time, y’know. I should know: he never shuts up about her!”

“Shut _uuuuup_ …” Justine looked ready to retreat into his shirt at the rate the redness was spreading across his face. “Rosemary, holy crap, just _shut uuuup…_ ”

The Therapist didn’t seem to hear him. “I mean, I’m like his older sister, almost! I know next to everything about him now after that last therapy session-“

“Rosemary, _shut up-_ “

“And to think,” She slung an arm over his shoulder lazily. “I thought he was jealous of _James_ for a moment, hoo boy! That was one of my biggest mistakes as a therapist, yes sir-“

“Rosemary, I fucking swear-“

“Well, there’s also the fact that he does seem to hate Mika with unbridled passion,” At this, Mika stopped exercising altogether, freezing in place at her words. “And the fact that he seems to be permanently angry at the world for making him a cyborg in the first place-“

“ROSEMARY-“

“Aaaaand let’s not forget that my cute widdle brother Asprah really really loves Dara with all his heart, yeaaaah?” At this, Rosemary squished Justine’s cheeks together with her hands, and it was then that Justine chose to scream, “ROSEMARY KEITHLEY OBNIAL, I FUCKING SWEAR, SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Bismarck fell over backwards in surprise at his scream, dislodging the sound system, and making Eugene yell in distress. The music made an abrupt stop, and mostly everyone turned at the sound of Justine’s shout, staring curiously at our group. Rosemary immediately withdrew her arm, backing away a few steps, as Justine’s whole body seemed to shake in anger. The boy raised a finger and opened his mouth as if to rant, making everyone shrink back, before he sighed, gritted his teeth, and basically stormed off, probably heading to his room.

_SLAM!_

… Yep, he headed to his room.

“ _Uhm… what happened, guys?_ ” Dara asked in concern, glancing at the doorway that Justine had stormed through. “ _Why did Justine escape our morning exercise?_ ”

Joan whispered something in her ear, and the Leader sighed, palming her face, before saying, “ _Well, that’s okay. He can attend the next morning exercise if he wants to, but for now, we need to get our muscles moving and our blood pumping! Give me twenty jumping jacks!”_

… I really wish I was a bit more fit than this.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A few days passed, with the same routine occurring over and over. It seemed like the pain of our four friends’ deaths was beginning to dull with time. I even saw Paula actually smile once, and the feeling that there wouldn’t be another murder began to fill me with hope. But… the warning Arah gave me during that first morning exercise sent the tiniest feeling of doubt down my spine. If what Arah said was true… then I had to watch out for Ellianna.

“It’s no problem at all, Dara, honest.”

“But to lift something like that like it’s nothing is really cool, Eugene! You shouldn’t put your talents in such a humble light when it’s really awesome!”

Looking up from my laptop, I watched from the stage as Dara and Eugene passed through the Amadome, the latter carrying what looked to be a really large bouquet of different colored roses, while the former was carrying a slightly smaller bouquet. At the amount, one could assume that the bouquet was really heavy, but by the way Eugene was carrying it, it was like it was nothing but a feather.

“I really appreciate you helping me gather these roses from the garden near Bordner, Eugene,” Dara’s lips curled up into the cutest of smiles. “Paula and the others will really appreciate the sentiment too. The dead need to be honored properly.”

Eugene looked like he was trying to hide the fact that he was really ecstatic. “Well, as President, you are all technically under my leadership – you as my co-leader of course – and as my citizens, it is my duty to serve you properly as a good president should. This is good training for me.”

“Oh? Is that really why you’re doing this?” The Leader covered her mouth as she giggled slightly. “I don’t know, Eugene, but for a moment there, it seemed like you were genuinely concerned with honoring the dead as Eugene Dato and not as the SHSL President.”

Within three seconds, Eugene’s face was a beet red. “D-Dara!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Dara tapped the President’s shoulder playfully with a rose she plucked from her bouquet before saying, “We really should get these roses to the others now- ow!” At the yelp of pain, she dropped the rose she had been holding and her bouquet as well.

I leaned forward, interested, as Eugene immediately placed his bouquet on the ground at Dara’s ‘ow’. “What happened?”

“I think one of the roses had a thorn…” Dara winced as she looked at the hand that had been holding the rose. I couldn’t see it from where I was sitting, but I could see the thin stream of blood from one of her fingers. “Owww, it stings…”

“Hold on, let me pull it out.” While saying so, Eugene took Dara’s hand in his. Her hand looked really fragile and tiny in his, honestly. Mumbling something under his breath, Eugene nervously pulled out something similar to a tweezer from his pocket. Both Dara and I gave him a questioning look, and he flushed further, saying in embarrassment, “I liked playing basketball and climbing trees back home, so uh… I had to have these in case I got splinters.”

“I see…” Dara shut her eyes tightly as the tweezers hovered dangerously above the thorn in her finger, preparing herself for the pain. However, when she didn’t feel any, she opened one eye, then the other, staring, as Eugene plastered a band-aid on the small wound, throwing away the thorn. “There, done.”

“I… I didn’t feel anything!” Dara blinked in surprise. “Usually thorns give me at least the slightest sensation of pain…”

The President rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “I… I learned that from Arah, actually.”

“You hang out with Arah?”

“She’s my secretary.”

“…”

“As in, literally my secretary.” I don’t think Eugene will ever stop blushing. “My father hired her to become my personal secretary due to her links with the Gelua conglomerate and the royal family of Palekaiko. I wasn’t as good at taking out splinters without any pain before she came along, so you can… thank her for that.”

Dara’s eyes shone with understanding. “I see… you know, you don’t seem that scary after all, Eugene.”

“You… thought I was scary?”

Dara laughed. “I shouldn’t really judge a book by its cover, honestly. I thought you were a military man of sorts; all ‘stern’ and ‘no-bullshit’, you know, that kind of thing.” At each word, she attempted to mimic something related to it, and Eugene couldn’t help but chuckle at her interpretations. “But… now that I’ve talked to you a little bit, I can see you’re not just that. And I think that’s… kinda sweet.”

“I-I-I-I-“ Eugene couldn’t speak anything coherently, so instead, he chose to zip up his letterman jacket and hide, drawing up the collar to hide his face, which was turning even redder than usual. “Dara, it’s not fair… so cute…!”

Uttering a jokingly-condescending laugh, Dara fanned her face delicately. “Why, I can’t help it if I was born this way, Eugene. You’ll have to adapt. Now…” Dara picked up her bouquet, and gestured for Eugene to pick up his. “We really should get these to the others. Like, right now. We’ve delayed too much already.”

“R-right!” And with that, Eugene picked up his bouquet, but not before taking the rose that pricked Dara and plucking off all the other thorns. After doing so, he tucked it behind Dara’s left ear, then sighed. “That looks much better.”

“Thank you, Eugene.” Dara told him honestly, smiling kindly at him. “Now, let’s go.” And with that, the two walked away, presumably to distribute the roses, while I continued to sit on the stage with my laptop, my ears burning.

… I don’t think I’m going to mention this to Justine.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**33/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	15. Attack on MAPEH: End of (Ab)Normal Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A blackout occurs. You can probably guess what happens next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have new sprites go check them out i think

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH – END OF (AB)NORMAL DAYS]**

**_The next day, in the Amadome…_ **

**7:30 AM**

“Have you heard?”

Blinking, I snapped out of my momentary daydreaming on the Amadome stage to watch as Rafael and Juneth passed by, chatting. The green-haired girl looked excited about something, while the taller boy looked like he needed a few more hours of sleep.

“Heard what?”

Juneth waved her arms around frantically. “Embu’s going to showcase her skills in the Student Center! We should go up there!”

“But… I’m too… lazy…” Rafael yawned loudly, as if to emphasize his point.

“What’s going on?” I asked the two of them, sliding off the stage to walk closer to them. Juneth’s champagne colored eyes seemed to glitter in eagerness as she replied, “I just heard from Kyle that his roommate’s gonna be busy painting upstairs in the Student Center! He said she woke him up at like 4 to help her lug some art materials from the Retail Store upstairs, and now he’s really grumpy… so I recommend you avoid him for a while.”

I chuckled. “Sure, I’ll try not to mess with him. What’s up with _him_ though?” I gestured to Raffy, who rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

“I don’t think he had a good night’s sleep, considering that Hunny was his roommate and her body was kind of _there_.” At the word ‘there’, Juneth moved her hands up and down in a motion that said, ‘okay-so-the-thing-is-what-caused-this-other-thing’. “He misses her, I think.”

Rafael grumbled, “I can speak for myself, Junjun. And… yeah, I think I miss her… despite her… _annoying_ tendencies.”

“She _can_ be a bit annoying, can she?” Juneth agreed, crossing her arms and grinning.

The Trendsetter sighed again, running his fingers through his perfectly gelled hair. “I… I think I’m the only one who didn’t find her the least bit annoying, aside from Aiel. It… it was kinda fun… hearing her talk about KPOP so enthusiastically.”

“Well, she _is_ the SHSL K-Prophet.” I shrugged, pocketing my hands. “She’s gotta talk about KPOP to _somebody_.”

Rafael sighed again. “Others would normally be sick of hearing the same topic over and over, but… just watching her excitedly talk about some KPOP stars in our room, practically bouncing on the bed while watching music videos on her laptop… it kinda made me feel… at ease. Like we weren’t stuck in a school of mutual killing.”

“You sound like you’ve known her for a long time.” Juneth said slyly, twirling a strand of her hair. “You only knew her for probably what, one and a half days?”

The Trendsetter laughed, adjusting the cashmere sweater around his neck. “I guess… but there was just something about her that reminded me of someone I used to know. They were both KPOP enthusiasts, though I’m pretty sure she wasn’t a SHSL K-Prophet like Hunny. They spoke almost the same way, though Hunny sounded a little less obnoxious than her.”

“What about you, Juneth?” I turned to the Escape Artist, who looked baffled. “You must have some fond memories of Arfel too, seeing as that he’s your roommate.”

She rolled her eyes. “I think the only thing we could agree on was Fairy Tail. Everything else? Total _blargh_. I couldn’t stand his obsessive rants and his general laziness inside our room! It was like he wasn’t in a school of mutual killing!”

“… Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Absolutely _not!_ ” Juneth’s eyes became round behind her glasses. “We must be preoccupied with finding methods of escape, not lounging around watching episode after episode after OVA after episode after movie after _episode_ of animes! Why, do you think I’m wrong?”

I shook my head wildly. “N-no, of course not! But… Arfel’s a SHSL Otaku, you can’t stop him from doing his thing!”

“In Japan, otakus are like the trash of the country.” Juneth grumbled, crossing her arms. “And besides, Monocat stopped _me_ from using my talent as an escape artist to escape from here. It’s high time that someone else felt my pain too.”

“That sort of thinking might just get you killed by someone who doesn’t want to feel your pain.” Rafael warned.

“Or make me the killer.” Juneth suddenly had a mischievous glint in her eye. “Speaking of which, we should go up to the Student Center now. It would be sad if something happened without us to witness it!”

“Wha-“ I was about to protest, but soon, the two were off, Rafael being dragged away by his sweater, which was in the hands of an all too eager Juneth. Soon, I was left, standing alone in the Amadome again.

… I should probably go follow them.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**_Oh my god I just forgot that climbing stairs is a pain in the butt._ **

At the final step, I practically collapsed, almost kissing the floor in gratefulness. Ugh, why did the Main Building have to have four floors?! Rolling over, I stared at the ceiling, before shutting my eyes momentarily, trying to rest. How many steps were there? Forty seven? Two hundred twenty nine? I just… can’t…

“Nnggrhh…” I groaned, my body aching too hard to think properly. I should never climb stairs again. This is ridiculously contrived; Monocat should install freaking escalators already. With a sigh, I opened my eyes again, only to be met with curious indigo ones staring straight at me behind a pair of large glasses. “GAAAH!”

The owner of the indigo eyes recoiled at my scream, and I sat up, rubbing my eyes, before looking to see who it was. Oh… it was Joan.

“You scared me, Marc.” Joan whimpered, pulling at a particularly thick strand of red hair. “What were you doing, lying down on the floor like you’ve lost all meaning to your life?”

“I… er…” How do you make this sound less pathetic? “… I gave up on stairs. I gave up on life. I wanted to lie down on the ground and contemplate my life and the nonexistence of escalators in this stupid school.”

At my stupid revelation, the Dancer giggled lightly. “Well, AxSci _is_ a public school, and not a private one. A special science school, but a public school nonetheless. We _could_ petition to Monocat to have the stairs replaced though; they’re really tiring!”

“You’re telling me!” I glanced towards the stairs, and watched as Wilson practically dragged himself up the last step before collapsing beside me, face down. “OH, SWEET LAND, GIVE ME REST!”

“You too?” I looked towards the corner, where Dara rounded, staring at us. “Oh, hello, Joan. Joining the ‘I-Hate-Stairs’ brigade too?”

Joan nodded vigorously. “Stairs have never been fond of me, and I it. Though, going down is better than going up in this case.”

“NOPE. Stairs, bad. Solid ground, GOOD.” Wilson’s voice was muffled, but understandable. The Gamer looked so tuckered out. “First thing I’m gonna do when Embu’s art thingy is over is ask Monocat to install escalators, just like the ones we used to have in my old school! Right… after a little nap… zzzzz….”

…

… Welp. Looks like he’s out for the count.

Dara tutted. “Oh, poor thing. We should really get Monocat to reconsider and install something to help us get up stairs easier. I’ll watch over him; you guys can go over to the art demonstration, okay?” She paused for a moment, before saying, “Oh, and go call Eugene or Bismarck over, whoever you see first. I’ll have them bring poor Wilson back to his room.”

“… Hey, Dara?” I looked at the girl, tilting my head to the side.

“Yes, Marc?”

“… Why are you so… calm about all this? Like… nothing’s really bothering you.”

“… Well…” The Leader stared off into space for a while, wistful. “… I guess, it’s an instinct. An instinct… to protect the ones under my care. To be the role model that everyone should follow.”

“How so?”

“I _am_ the SHSL Leader, Marc. It is my duty to lead you all to safety, no matter what happens.” With a sigh, Dara and I watched as Wilson continued to snooze, unaware of the world around him. “As your leader, I need to stand strong for everyone in times like this… in times that require us to trust our friends wholeheartedly. If Eugene falls… who else will watch over you guys?”

“…” I mulled over her words. “… Someone who’d take initiative and lead us with the hope of escape?”

Dara gave me a warm smile. “That’s a very hopeful thought, Marc. Are you offering yourself up as next in line in case anything would happen to me?”

“Wha- n-no!” I turned red, waving my hands around. “First of all, Eugene would be the one watching over us if anything happened to you! Second, _nothing’s_ going to happen to you Dara, I swear on my life!”

“That’s a dangerous thing to say Marc.” Dara examined me seriously. “You can’t honestly be sure that nothing will happen to me.”

I tapped my fist on the palm of my other hand. “But you just said that in times like this we need to trust our friends wholeheartedly! If you believe that nothing will happen to you very strongly, then nothing will happen to you, I just know it! Hope is very powerful, Dara, and I… I won’t stand to see you so resigned to the possibility of your… your…”

“My death.” Dara finished. “But Marc, even though I trust each and every one of you with all my heart, there will always be that possibility that I will die here. Whether by accident or on purpose, there is a possibility I will die. There’s a possibility everyone will die; there’s a possibility that nothing will happen. That’s how the world works.”

“… If I might add my two cents here…” Joan joined the conversation, after observing it for a while. “The world can be manipulated according to how you picture it to be. That’s something I learned while teaching dance to others.”

“… Really? How?” I was skeptical.

“By treading carefully around others, you learn their inner workings, and thus, you learn to adapt; you choose your words and actions carefully, and in the process, you gain their trust, and quite possibly a true friend.” Joan looked a whole lot more serious than usual. “It’s like in dancing: place your feet in the right places, and you won’t step on anyone’s toes. By sending out motives, Monocat’s trying to provoke us, but if we show that trust will prevail, then nothing particularly bad will happen.”

“… I guess you’re right.” Dara gave both of us a warm smile before glancing back at Wilson. “…  Could you guys _please_ go now?”

“Sure thing, Dara!” Joan smiled, and stood up- wait, holy crap. Turns out, the whole time, Joan had been sitting in a butterfly position. _Holy. SHIT._ “… Why are you staring at me, Marc?”

“Huh?” I blinked, before blushing. “I-I… I didn’t notice you were sitting like that…”

Joan blinked as well before looking at her legs. “Oh, you mean the butterfly position? It comes naturally to me, so I’m quite used to sitting that way on the ground. Is it that surprising that I can hold that position for so long?”

“ _YES._ ” I emphasized the word, waving my hands around. “You’re the Dancer, I know, but… to sit like that for so long…!”

The Dancer twirled a strand of her hair in embarrassment. “A-ah… well… it really just comes naturally to me… so… what say we get to the art thing in the Student Center?” Joan looked really desperate to change the subject, so I just shook my head and stood up, waving a goodbye to Dara and Wilson, who continued to snore.

Poor guy.

When we got to the Student Center, we ran right into Eugene, who had been carrying some paint cans out of the room. Joan piped up, “Oh! Eugene, Dara was looking for you!”

“She was?” Eugene practically dropped all the paint cans to the floor, making Andrea yell, “EUGENE!!!”

“Sorry!” The President yelled back before picking up the paint cans again, his face a furious shade of red. “S-so, why was she looking for me?”

I answered, “She wanted you to carry Wilson down to his room. Poor guy got knocked out after climbing up the stairs.”

“… Damn.” Eugene cursed before stacking the paint cans in one corner. “I’ll help him out, the poor man. Could you guys watch over these paint cans for me? Embu needs them for the final touch.”

“Sure thing man.” I gave him a thumbs up, and he grinned before taking off like a cheetah, heading towards where we came from. Joan just shook her head almost in a sad way, saying, “There goes a lovesick man.”

“Lovesick?”

“For Dara, couldn’t you tell?” Joan smiled mischievously. “Eugene’s head over heels for her. So’s Justine, apparently, but I don’t really trust word of mouth from Ellianna and Juneth until I confirm it from the source, which was apparently Rosemary.”

I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. Well then. “Uhm…”

“Kyle, for _God’s_ sakes, don’t drop that!”

“I’m _not_ , Embu, _god!_ ”

Joan and I looked towards the source of the yelling to see Andrea chastising Kyle with a paintbrush, flicking red paint all over the SHSL Swimmer, who looked undeniably surlier than usual. Upon spotting us, however, he lightened up considerably, waving us over. “Yo, Marc, Joan! Glad you came to save me from this demoness!”

“Who’re you calling a demoness, _nightmare-in-a-hoodie_?” Andrea protested, splattering more paint over Kyle as we approached the two of them.

I narrowed my eyes in a joking manner. “Hey, don’t diss the hoodie! She is my one true love!”

“Uh huh. And Jatulan will become hot when he gets older.” Andrea rolled her eyes before swiping at the canvas a few times with the red paint. “Aaaand… that should do it! Thank you, Kyle. Looks like I didn’t need those last few cans of ruby, scarlet, vermillion and mauve after all!”

“What did you paint?” Joan asked, tilting her head to the side to get a good view. At this, Andrea stepped to the side proudly, revealing the four paintings standing side by side, and Joan gasped loudly, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. I was stunned as well, but I didn’t really react that much. And who wouldn’t be stunned, after seeing her paintings?

Andrea really was the SHSL Artist; her paintings looked like they could come to life at any moment. All four of them were half body portraits of the currently deceased, with nearly varying expressions. The strokes that comprised Hunny’s hair looked so… _realistic_ , like they were all individual strands of hair on a canvas. Her Prussian blue eyes seemed to glow with defiance, as if reflecting the few moments that she had to try and defend herself before dying. Andrea had also painted the cause of her death – the glass shards stabbing into the arteries near her heart. Arfel’s painting was almost the same, except for the fact that she had painted on the gaping hole in his chest instead. You could see his lungs, and the ribs, and basically his innards. And his eyes… they radiated distrust towards the world; distrust towards his murderer.

What broke my heart was Aiel’s portrait, however.

Aiel looked the same as always; lovely carnation pink hair tied in a ponytail and draped over her shoulder, her skin looking as soft as silk. The chair leg she was stabbed with was also there, dripping with her blood – at least, it looked like it was still dripping; Andrea had just painted it on. However, when I looked at her face, I could hear my heart shattering into a million pieces. Her lips were parted slightly, as if she was going to say something, and her eyes… her pretty, fuchsia eyes… they looked… so sad… like she had done something wrong to someone and was about to apologize for it before she died. Well, she _did_ attempt to murder Joshua first… but I digress.

Joshua’s painting was simple, but equally heartbreaking, I think, especially if Paula happened to chance upon the painting. The clamps that held him back were around his neck and his wrists, and one could see the intestines and various internal organs spilling out of his stomach. Go figure; Andrea draws them so detailed. But what would really catch your attention would be the fact that Joshua’s eyes were slightly open, revealing their color – a warm hazel, which contrasted with the fact that he looked like he regretted something with all his heart.

“Soooo, what do you think?” Andrea asked proudly, placing her hands on her hips. “I was thinkin’ that maybe I could gift these to their roommates, as mementos of sorts.”

I managed to croak out, “Those are very… _nice_ , Embu… but why make them so detailed… and _heartbreaking_?”

“I was thinking of my inspiration while doing this, that’s why.” Andrea twirled her paintbrush around as Kyle lugged the cans of unused paint downstairs. “I only remembered her when Monocat let me remember that memory, and that’s kind of sad because we were really good friends and I couldn’t believe I forgot her like that.”

“What’s her name?” I asked.

Andrea smiled warmly. “Her name’s Carina.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Joan twitch. “From what I can gather from the memories I can pull out, she’s a really great person, good at math and playing the guitar. She and I were really great friends, apparently, and… I dunno, hearing her voice… it made me want to strive to survive.”

“That’s a nice motivation.” I said cheerily, smiling. “I guess Monocat did a little good, after all.”

“Yeah!” Andrea looked really excited, her ponytail bobbing up and down. “That’s the only good thing Monocat has done for me so far as an individual, besides my room, of course. Hearing Carina’s voice makes me want to get out of here some more… but the fact that I know that someone’s out there waiting for me… a true friend… it renews my vigor to get out of here without murdering anybody! I’ll stay clean, if only for Carina!”

Joan looked happy as well. “That’s… that’s great, Embu! I feel motivated as well, with your cheerful attitude!”

“ _Mrrowwwr… isn’t that a bit too hasty, Joan?_ ”

As if on cue, the nearest screen flickered open, and Monocat showed up, cackling. “ _At this rate, nobody’s going to murder, and that’s just sad, nyooooooroooon! You have left me no choice, kupo; I will call upon my secret weapon to make you all murder!_ ” And just like that, the screen flickered off.

“What’s she talking about-“Just as I was about to protest, everything became dark. All the lights shut off, and the fake sky suddenly turned black. Everything… was bathed in darkness. I couldn’t see two centimeters in front of me. There was no moon, no sun, no stars, no _nothing_.

Joan’s voice sounded panicked. “H-hey, are you guys still here? Marc? Embu?”

“I’m here.” Andrea didn’t sound too worried. “Marc?”

“I’m here too.” I said, looking around despite the darkness. “Jeez, a blackout? Is _that_ Monocat’s secret weapon?”

I heard a slap in the darkness. Probably a facepalm from Andrea, judging from the source of the sound. “Ugh… just great, now how will we get down from here?”

“You should stay here, Embu; Marc and I will try and get some light from downstairs.” Joan coaxed gently. “Marc, if you’re standing to my right, then you should stretch out your left hand and take my hand.”

I stretched, and soon I felt Joan’s warm hand clasping mine. “Good. We should go. You stay safe up here, alright, Embu?”

“I’ll be fine. I know a little taekwondo!” Andrea _probably_ gave us the thumbs up in the darkness. “I’ll see you guys later!”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_Ten minutes later…_

Getting down to the first floor was no easy job, especially with Joan clinging to my arm like a lifeline. But in the end, we managed to make it down safely, save for a few bumps and cuts due to the few times I skipped a step. I felt Joan’s grip on my arm loosen, and I glanced in her general direction. “I think I can manage on my own now, Marc.”

“Are you freaking kidding me? The whole place is dark, and you say you can find your way?!” I raised an eyebrow at her skeptically, despite the fact that she couldn’t see me.

Joan tutted. “I’ve memorized the grounds already, not the second to fourth floors. I can handle myself, and if push comes to shove, I can hole myself up in my room with Aisley. I’d rather look for some of the others lost in the dark.”

“… Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“It’ll help, Marc, trust me.”

“… Well, if you’re sure… but don’t blame it on me if you find a dead body!” I reluctantly waved a hand in Joan’s general direction before finding her shoulder, and patting it.  At this, she shook her head – I felt her hair swish back and forth – and said jokingly, “Not gonna happen! We’ll all get through this just fine, I just know it!”

… I can just feel the Fates laughing at us and our misfortune.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_Thirty minutes later…_

“Helloooo?” I called out, stepping into what I assumed was the hallway where our rooms were. “Anyone dead or lost or afraid of the dark in here? _Hellooooooo_?”

I sighed, looking down, but not before hearing voices. “Marc? Marc, is that you?”

“Huh?” I looked up, and – wonders of wonders – I saw a pair of bright white lights staring straight at me. Once the pair came closer, however, I saw that they were actually eyes – Justine Asprah’s eyes. The attorney had his roommate with him, judging from the ever so faint traces of light purple sparks trailing around a hand like silhouette. “Oh, Mika, Justine! Are you guys alright?”

Justine’s voice sounded grumpy. “Well, we’re alive and standing in front of you, aren’t we? Isn’t that what constitutes being alive-“

“Stop that!” I assume Mika elbowed him in the ribs, because the lights that were his eyes tilted to the side a little before going back to normal. “Yes, we’re alright. We checked on most of the other students hanging around in their rooms, which were quite a few, and they were alright. Some of them aren’t around though; they’re probably wandering willy nilly around the grounds.”

Justine blinked. “How long do you think this blackout will last?”

“Probably until Monocat’s tired of watching teenagers bumping into each other and wandering around aimlessly in the dark.” I grumbled, crossing my arms. But just then, the lights flickered back on, and Justine blinked again, shutting off the flashlight function of his eyes. Mika was shielding her eyes from the sudden light, while I saw Dave screaming “AGGGH, THE LIGHT, IT BURRRRRNNNSSSS!” a few meters away behind Mika and flailing his arms around.

Justine didn’t look too bothered by the sudden light. “Was… that it?”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGH!”

“…Nope.”

The three of us scrambled upstairs at the scream, though I lagged behind a bit because **_STAIRS_**. However, once we reached the fourth floor, we stopped a bit, looking around before spotting the door to the Student Center, which was ajar. Looking at each other, we came to a general consensus – at least, I think we did; I can’t read faces well sometimes – and ran towards the Student Center, only to find…

…

… oh god.

Helpless, her whole body was tied to one of the posts holding up the Student Center by a very, very long rope, almost completely obscuring her torso, but not quite, revealing the various gashes that pierced through her clothes and through her skin, staining her top a deep crimson. Her eyes were closed, but that didn’t matter – her face was marred by three long gashes, rendering her almost unrecognizable with the depth of the gashes. A hand limply grasped a paintbrush by the bristles, the handle dripping with blood as well; the only reason it hadn’t fallen off yet was because it was tied to the post too.

“…” Both Mika and Justine were speechless beside me as Kyle Jatulan, the one who had screamed earlier, sank to his knees in front of her, silent, and unmoving. Moments later, however, he hunched over, and I saw tears splattering on the ground in front of him. I could only watch as the Super High School Level Swimmer screamed again, only this time in pure agony.

His roommate, Andrea Embuscado, the Super High School Level Artist, was dead.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**32/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	16. Attack on MAPEH: Abnormal Days - Illuminate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things are brought to light, and with the light, two more objects of despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they told me that i should have put the investigation here too but yknow sometimes i have writers block  
> marc has a new sprite and wait i should probably be uploading the rest of the sprites i just finished

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH – ABNORMAL DAYS – ILLUMINATE]**

“… N-no way…” Justine’s stance was stiff, his normally composed but hard gaze wide with confusion and intrigue.

Mika changed her posture, though I could feel her shaking. “B-blood… blo… blood…”

“How… Jatulan…?” I only managed to call out the Swimmer’s name in a questioning tone before the whole place darkened again, the only thing remotely resembling light coming from the nearest screen, where Monocat showed up, cackling.

“ _Isn’t that such a shame? The Super High School Level Artist is dead. Well, there goes one of the Lavo girls, what a shame! We should really give them a funeral that even Antoine Lavoisier would love, ukukuku~!”_

My eye twitched. Lavo… girls? What in hell was she talking about? “Somebody just died, Monocat! You can’t just turn off the lights _again!_ ”

“ _I can, I will, and I just did, so deal with it, bucko!_ ” Monocat cackled again, spinning around on her office chair. “ _Gives more opportunities for murdering, hahahaha! Better be careful and watch your back; I hear that the music you can hear before you die is mind-shattering and eye-goggling, nyahahaha~!”_ And with that, the screen died out, leaving us all in blackness once more.

I heard Kyle’s voice, quivering in the dark. “… M-marc…?”

“It’s okay, Kyle.” With a slight tap, Justine’s flashlight eyes were on again, and they beamed directly at Kyle’s face, who recoiled at the sudden brightness. “Oops, sorry.”

With a huff, Mika crossed her arms, bowing her head. “… You should stick with us for a while, Kyle. Who knows if the murderer will come back here?”

“… But…” Kyle wearily gazed at the lifeless body of his roommate, who was still tied up to the post. “… but I can’t leave Embu here all alone… I… I never even got to tell her that her paintings were really good… she kept asking me on my opinion on them and… and I kept brushing her off because I was really irritated and cranky and now…!”

The Dark Magician placed a hand on his shoulder, albeit delicately. “… No use dwelling on what has already happened. It’s best if we checked on the others again, just to be on the safe side. You’ll be safe with us, don’t worry.”

“…” Kyle looked down, and for the first time, I saw tears welling up in his eyes. The boy tugged at the folded up sleeves of his jacket, mumbling things that I couldn’t understand, but I did pick up on the words ‘Embu’, ‘sorry’, and ‘need you’. Finally though, he looked up, wiping away a tear with the back of his gloved hand before saying, “…O-okay…”

For a split second, I thought I saw a gentle look cross Justine’s face, but when I did a double take, I only saw him staring stoically ahead, lighting our path. I must’ve been hallucinating. With Kyle clinging to my sleeve, Justine leading the way, and Mika’s footsteps emanating the faintest hints of purple ‘magic’ as she walked alongside him, the four of us made our way downstairs once more, wary of the murderer lurking around in the darkness. The murderer had targeted Andrea already; who was to say that someone else wouldn’t be next?

Upon reaching the second floor, we took a little detour through the hallway that had some of the laboratories, just to make sure that nobody was around there. However, within a few minutes, Justine promptly skidded to a stop, making Mika bump into him, Kyle into her, and me into Kyle, which basically equaled all four of us falling over on Justine.

“Ow! GET OFF ME!” The attorney yelled, the lights in his eyes flashing due to him blinking rapidly. Struggling, I pulled myself up, then reached out a hand for Kyle to take, which he did. Mika soon rose up after the two of us, brushing away the dust on her clothes haughtily while asking, “Why’d you stop, then?”

What Justine said next made my blood turn to ice. “I saw something in the dark. It looked like someone… holding something sharp.”

“Are you sure you aren’t hallucinating?” Even though I couldn’t see Mika’s face – Justine wasn’t looking directly at her with his flashlight eyes, after all – I could tell that she looked doubtful; her tone of voice gave it away. “Maybe you’re just hallucinating because you’re thinking about Dara’s _safety_.”

“ _Someone just got killed and you think I’m hallucinating?!_ ” Justine’s voice was dripping with venom, and for a few moments, the light turned red, making Kyle cling tighter to my arm. “I **_did_** see something there, and if you don’t believe me, fine; it’s not going to be my fault if you get killed.”

I could feel Mika bristling, and I reached out, patting the nearest person on the shoulder. Hopefully it was Mika. “Hey, hey, let’s not fight here; we still need to look to see if the murderer struck again.”

“Hmph! If they heard Kyle scream, then they wouldn’t have struck again.” Mika grumbled, but after that she was silent. Our only light source shifted back to the floor once more, and soon, we were walking again, except in a much tenser atmosphere. Kyle continued to stick close to me, shaking, and I couldn’t help but pat his back reassuringly; this was like Aiel all over again… except Kyle was just shaking.

For a few minutes, footsteps were all I heard as Justine led the way in the dark, the light flashing once in a while due to his blinking. The purple that seemed to emerge from Mika’s footsteps soon faded away as well, until Justine’s flashlight eyes were really the only source of light around here. Suddenly, however, we were accosted by something jumping at Justine from the darkness, knocking the attorney over, and our light source was soon directed at the ceiling.

“What the hell?!” Justine struggled for a while, and I peered down at what – or _who_ – had tackled him to the ground. “Who the-“

“ _PAWSTINE!_ ” Sure enough, it was the cloaked Fangirl who had tackled him with the agility of a feline, mismatched eyes actually looking worried for once. Strangely enough, her usual companion wasn’t nearby, laughing at Justine’s predicament. I wonder…? “Pawstine, Pawstine, you have to help me!”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter, Jenita? And where’s Rosemary?”

“Aren’t the two of you joined at the hip?” Kyle ventured bravely, clinging to my arm tighter.

Jenita blew a raspberry in his direction before blabbering, “IwaswanderingaroundintheAmadomewithRosemarywhentheblackouthappenedandIsuggestedthatwegoupstairsbecausemaybesomebodyhadalightupstairsandthen-“

“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” I placed a hand on Jenita’s shoulder, trying to keep her steady. “Okay, repeat everything you said, but _slower_.”

“Iwaswanderingaround-“

“SLOWER.”

“Iwaswand-“

“ _SLOWER_.”

“I… was… wandering…”

“Too slow.”

“Make up your mind!” Mika yelled from my left, smacking my back with what I assume was her palm, making me yelp in pain before she said, “Seriously, what happened?”

Jenita’s green and blue eyes tilted in a sorrowful manner. Despite the general blackness surrounding her face, her eyes seemed to be the most prominent, glittering the way a cat’s would in the dark. Not as much as Justine’s flashlight eyes, but just enough that you could see it from a few steps away. “Rosemary and I… we were wandering around downstairs when the blackout happened, and I suggested that we go upstairs ‘cause I assumed that somebody like Eugene would be upstairs, and she didn’t answer so I thought that meant yes and I bounded upstairs thinking that she’d follow me but when I looked back I couldn’t hear any footsteps so that meant she didn’t follow me and… and…!”

“Hey, calm down.” Surprisingly enough, Kyle let go of my arm for a second to take Jenita’s hand in his in reassurance. “If I know Rosemary – and I do, a little - then she’d be able to take care of herself in the dark. Who’s afraid of this kind of dark, anyway?”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“… I stand corrected.”

I heard footsteps, and Mika brushed past me, fumbling around before grabbing onto Justine’s arm and pulling him up before taking a hold of the sides of his head and directing the lights that were his eyes around, locating the windows, before opening them and directing the lights towards the outside. When I approached the window as well, I saw that the lights of his eyes barely grazed the floor of the Amadome, which was saying something because we were on the second floor.

“Do you see anything?” Mika asked, the slightest hint of worry in her voice as she tilted Justine’s head all around. “Come on, tell me!”

“I won’t be able to see anything if you keep moving my head like that!” Justine snapped, batting away her hands before staring intently outside. “… We need to go down. I can see something, but I don’t know what the heck it is.”

Jenita’s voice was shrill with panic. “Bubububut Rosie…!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find her. She couldn’t have made it too far in this kind of darkness.” When Justine directed his gaze at his face, I could see that the Swimmer was smiling wanly. “Now, c’mon. Lead the way, Asprah.”

With a new addition to our party, we slowly but surely made our way towards the nearest set of stairs in silence. Now that I thought about it, we seemed like some crazy RPG team: Mika was probably the mage, while Jenita was the assassin, and Kyle was the warrior, and Justine was the archer slash long range attacker? I was probably the weakest guy in the bunch… ah damn it. This was a stupid train of thought; I shouldn’t be thinking of this like a game, this was real life!

“Wait.”

The sudden whisper from Jenita cleared my thoughts for a while, returning me back to the situation at hand as we descended the stairs. Justine’s light flickered as everyone froze, and I concentrated, trying to see if I could pick up on anything.

_Dark…_

_… is really… lost…_

_where…_

My eyes widened, and I took a step backward, just as someone brushed past me. I didn’t know who it was, but soon after that somebody passed me, I heard the sound of something connecting with flesh, and a loud thump, and Mika screaming, “MURDERER!”

The pair of lights moved towards the direction of the scream, and I saw one of Mika’s fists balled up and the other one appearing to charge up psychokinetic energy or whatever. I don’t fucking know what she calls them, but either way, it wasn’t working. At her feet was someone on the ground face down, unconscious, and another person was standing near her – I could tell by the feet nearby. When Justine looked up at said person, I was stunned to see that it was Eugene.

“Eugene!” Kyle couldn’t have sounded more relieved. “I’m glad we found you guys!”

Eugene shook his head. “And you knocked out John Paul in the process. Who did you think we were?” As he spoke, he moved to hoist John Paul up and over his shoulder like a sack. Poor guy was out cold; how _hard_ did Mika punch him, and where?! “Geez, where’d you hit him?”

“In the face, I think.” Mika replied. She sounded pissed. “Or the balls. I don’t really know or care right now. And y’know, Embu just got murdered, so we thought, ‘oh, maybe it’s the murderer, escaping!’ You can’t blame us for thinking that!”

The light source we had spun a little; Justine must’ve rolled his eyes. “Uh, no, we didn’t think that. You were the one who moved forward and punched whoever was in front.”

“Shut your trap, Asprah.” I heard a sigh escape from her lips. “But anyway, have you guys seen Rosemary? Wait, no, stupid question, it’s pitch black here. Have you _heard_ Rosemary shuffling around?”

I could feel Jenita excitedly bouncing next to me at the mention of her roommate, but once Eugene replied with a “No…”, the Fangirl drooped, and clung sulkily to my arm. I felt an arm snake behind me, and a hand patted Jenita’s head reassuringly. It was probably Kyle’s.

“I’m worried about the others.” Eugene confessed, adjusting his grip on John Paul’s body. “Could we, erm, join you guys? You guys are probably the only good flashlight walking around. Monocat said she confiscated all the flashlights in the retail store – actually, only one, and that was the only flashlight left in the whole school, because someone already bought them all, apparently.

I cursed. “Damn it. Who would’ve needed a lot of flashlights, anyway?”

“The murderer, probably.” Justine muttered darkly. “We should keep moving and look for the others not in their rooms. Can somebody recap who’re in their rooms?”

With a shrug, I answered, “The only people who didn’t answer their doors were Ina and Dave – they were both out, I think – then Embu, of course, and… erm… Reymon and Daenna too… Arah was out too, but Nathan was still there. Arvin was half asleep when we knocked on his door, but Ellianna wasn’t there too.”

“I saw Ellianna just before the blackout wandering the grounds, so she’s around here somewhere.” Jenita said quietly. I felt one of her long sleeves brush my shoulder as she probably flailed it around. “I heard Joan during the blackout, but I didn’t know where she was exactly, so she’s running around the place somewhere.”

My eyes widened. _Shit_. “I was with Joan when the blackout happened upstairs, but when we came down, we separated. She insisted that she’d be fine.”

“Were you fucking _high_ when you agreed to that?!” Mika asked, exasperated. “It was a blackout, and the two of you decided to separate?! Are you even thinking straight?! ARE YOU EVEN BEING GENRE SAVVY RIGHT NOW?!”

Jenita supplied in a helpful tone, “The one who insists on separating will always die. That’s what happens in some shows and fanfiction I’ve read.”

“Ugh. Crap.” I facepalmed myself. “We really need to go find everyone else. Anyone else worthy of mentioning?”

Eugene counted on his free hand. “Wilson and Bismarck are okay; I saw them entering their room before the blackout. I heard Charles and Bea bickering, but I don’t know where; those two are really loud. Nahangel and Bonn were in the canteen last time I checked, and I heard Rafael singing off-key in the boy’s bathroom on the second floor.”

“… Wow.” Kyle had nothing else to say, apparently. “… Well, I’m certain Juis is safe in her room. She told me that she wouldn’t leave if her life depended on it, because John Paul told her so. Shine’s somewhere around Bordner, last time I heard-“

Justine interrupted. “She is. She was talking with Dara near the shed about how she wanted to play a few instruments and sing a little without Bea criticizing. She looked pretty pissed about it too.”

…

“… Exactly how did you hear this?” Mika’s voice was laced with poison. “I don’t recall telling and seeing you to stalk our Leader and our Model.”

“That’s because you’re always with _James_ -sama.” Justine said in a mocking tone, quoting, “ _Oh James-sama, the wonderful Singer James-sama, he’s the sweetest person ever, would never hurt a fly!_ Sickening.”

A snarl escaped Mika, and I shivered, backing away a bit while Jenita, Kyle, and Eugene stood their ground. “You don’t see _me_ complaining when you talk in your sleep! _The lovely Dara, as precious as a flower, innocent as a_ FUCKING DOVE!”

“Take that back, you bitch!” Our source of light suddenly became a glaring red, and everything suddenly became a lot less happy. The red light blared at Mika’s face, illuminating the two in some sort of hateful spotlight thing, except… you know, we could only see their faces, more or less.

“Make me, you useless piece of _trash_!”

“THIS ISN’T THE PLACE TO BE FIGHTING!” Kyle thundered, and I assume he thrust his arms out to push them, because both of them stumbled away from each other, the red light fading into white. With authority and exasperation in his voice, the Swimmer stated matter-of-factly, “Look, I honestly don’t care about whoever you think is cute, and I’m betting the rest of us don’t either. What’s important right now is-“

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“ROSEMARY!” In a flash, Jenita was gone from her place. I heard her cloak billowing as she darted away from us in the dark, a loud thud signaling to me that she had pushed Justine over in an attempt to follow the sound of her friend’s scream. Just then, the lights came on, and I swallowed, a sinking feeling settling in my stomach. The lights only turned on when we found Embu dead, which meant that unless Monocat was just tired of seeing us bump around in the dark…

I brushed past the bickering roommates, finding that we were close to one of the gateways to the Amadome. Once I went through it, I spotted the flaming red hair of Rosemary near the middle of the Amadome, Jenita’s cloaked figure running towards her with arms outstretched, and I ran over as well, hearing the rest of them follow after me. What I saw, however…

Her head was resting on her forearm, and her other arm was outstretched, as if reaching out, pleading. Pieces of rope were sitting near her wrists, broken, and her mouth was wide open, a thin trail of blood at the side of her mouth. What really sold the deal, however, was the fact that both of her eyes… both of her eyes had been gouged out. Well, to be blunt… one of them was still there, but there was a stick driven straight through it, piercing even the lens of her broken glasses, while the other eye… I didn’t know where it was. I don’t think I want to know. Her red hair almost blended with the blood, but it was distinguishable, if you looked a bit harder.

She was dead. Joan Setias had her eyes gouged out with sticks.

That made two dead people.

I glanced at Rosemary, who had been kneeling in front of Joan’s body. Jenita now had a really long sleeve draped over her shoulder as her friend tried to process what she was currently seeing, shaking. Eugene almost dropped John Paul in his surprise, while Mika stumbled a bit, looking a bit sick. Justine, however, looked relatively calm, albeit a bit mad. Kyle, however, was glancing towards the path to Lover’s Lane with determination.

“What are you looking at?” I asked, confused. Why wasn’t he preoccupied with the body like with Embu’s? “What’s up with Lover’s Lane?”

Kyle sounded brave, but when he glanced at me, I saw sadness reflected in his eyes. “We need to get to Bordner. I have a feeling this won’t be the last one.”

“What makes you so sure-“Justine was cut off just as the lights disappeared again, leaving us all in inky blackness. I heard a slap, and the Attorney groaned loudly as he activated his flashlight eyes again, saying, “Ugh. The world just wants to make me _suffer_ , doesn’t it?!”

Jenita’s giggle sounded out of place and disrespectful. “Suffering again, are we, Pawstine?”

“… ugh…” Justine sounded more exasperated than usual. “Just… let’s go to Bordner. Whatever. I am so done with all of you. So. _Done_.”

I tutted. “Is the Attorney losing his cool _already_?”

“Just… just… shut up, Marc.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Rosemary initially didn’t want to leave Joan’s side – “Somebody might trip over her and destroy the evidence!” – but on Jenita’s insistence – “Purrhaps it would be best if we stuck togefur, Rosie!” – the Therapist joined our ragtag group of misfits on the way to Bordner, sticking close to Jenita, who practically radiated with happiness at the presence of her friend. Justine seemed to relax around Rosemary, while the tense air around Mika seemed to become even more tense. I was thankful for the narrowness of Lover’s Lane for once; it made navigating the way to Bordner much, much easier.

“Gwaah!”

I heard Kyle yelp beside me, and suddenly, I couldn’t feel him beside me anymore. I blinked in the darkness, looking around despite the fact that it was dark and of course I wouldn’t see anything. “Kyle?”

“Why is there a hole here of all places?!” Kyle’s voice grumbled irritably. “I’m down here, Marc. Care to help me out?”

I felt around where Kyle once stood, and sure enough, my palm brushed against the carefully gelled hair of the Swimmer. I trailed my hand down until I got a good grip on one of his wrists, before hoisting him up – with lots of effort on my part.

“Mrrowr, what’s a pitfall trap doing here? I don’t recall a hole existing here…” Jenita sounded utterly confused. “I walk around here all the time, and I never saw any holes, not even once!”

“ _Oops, looks like the covering on the hole got removed.”_ Another nearby screen flickered open, and I had to shield my eyes from the sudden brightness blaring at my face. “ _I wondpurr why, kyahahaha!”_ … And she’s gone again.

A groan came from someone, and I raised an eyebrow as Eugene exclaimed, “Oh, you’re awake, JP!”

“Owww… what happened…?” A pair of feet shakily landed on the ground; it was probably John Paul. “And why does my lower body hurt…?”

Jenita supplied helpfully, “Mika punched you in the balls!”

“… _oh_.”

“I am _so_ sorry.” You gotta give her credit: at least she sounded a _little_ remorseful, though I’m pretty sure she would’ve looked pretty steamed if it wasn’t dark. “I thought you were a murderer in the dark.”

JP sighed. “It’s okay… I think… I’ll probably need surgery later… but I’ll live. So what’re we doing here… wherever we are?”

“We’re heading towards Bordner to check if there’s anyone there.” Rosemary stated matter-of-factly. “Kyle here thinks that Joan won’t be the last murder.”

You could almost hear JP’s eyes falling out of his head and landing on the floor. Well, not literally, but… yeah, you get the idea, right? “Joan’s dead?”

“Dead as a doornail,” Justine deadpanned, directing his flashlight eyes upwards. I followed his light, and saw that the light only barely reached the third floor of Bordner’s window, where- wait. Was that…

I elbowed Kyle, and then recoiled at the _squish_ I heard. “Okay, what the hell?!”

“I’m soaked to the bone, eurgh.” Kyle groaned again. “I dunno if it’s water, or something equally gross. I don’t wanna dwell on it. Why’d you elbow me… was it you, Marc?”

I nodded, then, upon remembering they couldn’t see me, said, “Yeah. I thought I saw something like a light up on the third floor of Bordner. It might be the person who bought most of the flashlights in the retail store, since Monocat confiscated the last one.”

“But I thought you could only buy stuff from retail when Monocat was around to assist you.” Eugene mumbled, sounding a bit confused. “And besides, isn’t her main currency Monocoins?”

The Chessmaster supplied helpfully, “Actually, I ran out of Monocoins before I ran into you today, Eugene, and I still got to buy a Hersheys bar at the retail by trading in some of my extra things of equal worth, so that rules out the ‘Monocoin-is-only-currency’ thing. Besides, isn’t that only for the Mono Mono Machine?”

“No, it works with buying regular things too, and not just the Gachapon where you leave everything to fate, although going with the Gachapon is definitely easier on the figurative wallet.” Kyle sounded determined. “C’mon, let’s go to the third floor and group up with the person with the flashlight slash flashlights!”

With a little more stumbling – and Kyle falling into the hole _again_ – we managed to find our way into the little stairwell, where we debated on splitting up for a while before meeting on the second floor. There were stairs that went up and into a short hallway before going into the official second floor, and there was another set of stairs that seemed to serve as a shortcut from Bordner to Lover’s Lane, and vice versa.

“It’ll only be a few minutes, probably,” Rosemary said finally, sounding quite pleased. “We can split up momentarily and meet in front of the main History classroom’s big window on the second floor; both paths lead the same way, anyway.”

Jenita sounded worried. “But Rosemary, I don’t want to be sepurrated again, nya~!”

“No, you’re sticking with me. And so are you, Mister Walking Flashlight!” At this, I heard Justine yelp as Rosemary probably grabbed onto a part of his body. I heard a smack, and for a few moments, the white light turned red again. “ROSE! Why the hell’d you do that?!”

“I thought it was your arm…?” The Therapist defended lamely as the light faded into white again as Justine shook his head, sighing. “Well, anyway, I’m taking Justine, Jenita, and Eugene upstairs. Will that be okay?”

 _No. You’re sticking me with a Swimmer who’s probably covered in something squishy and disgusting like mud, a Chessmaster who’s probably disoriented as hell due to the fact that someone punched him in the balls, and a Dark Magician whose temper could flare up at any possible moment. Of course it’s not okay._ “Yeah, I guess so. I’ll just take the others.”

“Great. I’m stuck with you three idiots.” Mika huffed.

Kyle snipped back, “You’re no ball of sunshine yourself, Mika.”

“Thank Christ I’m not with her.” Justine sighed in relief. “Now I won’t need to hear any more about ‘Byakuya-sama’ the Great and Almighty.”

The braided girl sniffed. “I suppose you lot are better company than him. At least you guys talk about something besides your nonexistent love lives.”

“Hypocritical bitch.”

“Mine exists, unlike yours.”

“In your dreams.”

“Say that to my face you hunk of metal!”

“You synthetic skinned witch!”

“OH-KAY, WE’RE GOING NOW.” And with that, I ushered my group down the other way, _away_ from the others. Once we regained our bearings in the dark – now that we didn’t have a flashlight – we walked slowly towards the next set of stairs, feeling around for possible obstacles.

It was JP who broke the silence first. “I hope Dara’s alright.”

“What brought that on all of a sudden?” I asked, feeling the wall to the right of me.

A sigh. “Well-“

“Wait, don’t tell me: you have a crush on Dara too.” Mika said in a saccharine voice that was trying too hard to mask the sarcasm and absolute loathing in her voice. At John Paul’s unsure mumble, she groaned loudly and almost screamed, “Why does _everyone_ have a crush on her?! First, our President, then, my good-for-nothing-except-scrap-metal roommate, and now _you_?!”

Kyle, feeling the other wall, stated blandly, “Well, you have to admit that she’s pretty. And nice too. _And_ she’s actually approachable.”

“Are you saying I’m not approachable?”

“Weeeeeell…”

Just then, a light flashed in our eyes, and Kyle screamed loudly, startling the rest of us into screaming too. The light soon got directed to the floor as its holder exclaimed loudly, “Whoa, whoa, wait, it’s just me, Ellianna!”

“Ellianna?” I stared intently, and indeed, I could make out the slight curves of the Photographer’s face. “So you were the one who bought all the flashlights from the retail store?”

The girl sounded absolutely baffled. “What? No; I borrowed this one from Arvin. He’s the one who bought all of them for some reason. Is he okay? I heard screaming.”

“Well, uh… how do I put this…” JP seemed to be gesturing something wildly with his hands. “… Joan and Embu are… erm… how do I say this without breaking your being… er… they’re… dead.”

Ellianna sounded only a little bit concerned. “… Oh. Condolences to their roommates, then. Where are their bodies?”

“Embu’s is in the Student Center, while Joan’s is in the Amadome.” I sighed before asking, “Erm, if it isn’t too much trouble, are you willing to stick with us, at least until we reach the second floor? We split up and our only light source, Justine, was with them. You can leave after that.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Ellianna shrugged, and with that, we traipsed the surprisingly short dark corridor with ease, now that we had another temporary light source. Just as we reached the stairs, however, the lights seemed to switch back on, just as Monocat twittered through the nearest screen, “ _Llllllliiiiiights on~!_ ”

Mika hissed, ducking behind me, just as Kyle said jubilantly, “Oh, finally, now I can see what I’m covered in- _OH MY GOD!”_

I looked at him, and nearly choked; Kyle was covered from above the waist down in… wait for it… blood. So _that_ was the squishy stuff I elbowed… oh _god._ I attempted to glance at my elbow, and almost screamed when I saw my precious green hoodie stained with blood.

“B-b-b-b-“ Mika began stammering behind me, and I barely had time to react before she basically fainted and slumped against my back, making me fall over. Thankfully, JP had the common sense to remove the unconscious girl from my back, allowing me to get up and look at Kyle with scrutiny. “Why are you even-“

The Swimmer looked like he had just seen hell. “Why was there BLOOD in that damn hole, for one?! Ugh… that’s it, I am so done, and I am going to my room.” And with that, Kyle stalked back the way we came, this time with the presence of light, which seemed to be slowly fading away, due to the fact that it was nearing night time in the fake sky. I counted on my fingers for about three seconds before I heard Kyle screaming, “GOD DAMN IT!” again.

“I… I gotta go.” And with that, Ellianna took off, leaving me with an unconscious Dark Magician and a totally out-of-it Chessmaster. I stared at my hands, and then I sighed, hoisting Mika up and allowing her to piggyback until we made it to the second floor, where we met up with an impatient-looking Justine, a vaguely-concerned Rosemary, an absolutely-concerned Eugene, and a widely-grinning Jenita.

“What happened to _her_?” Justine asked, gesturing to the unconscious girl on my back.

JP replied, “Fainted at the sight of Kyle half covered in blood. Find anything useful ‘round here?”

“Nah.” Rosemary sounded dismissive. “We should go up to the third floor. Something happened there, and if nothing did, I’ll marry Reymon.” With a smile, the Therapist skipped up the stairs, her loyal feline-like friend following, and the President trailing behind soon after. I followed them myself, but not before seeing Justine sputter at her words, unable to actually form anything comprehensible. “Wha-bububu-wha-ju-WHAT?!”

I glanced at JP questioningly, and the Chessmaster just shrugged before jogging after Eugene up the stairs. I looked at Justine, who looked lost for words. “You coming, Justine?”

“Wha… I don’t even…” The poor boy looked utterly lost, which kind of made me snicker as I went back down the stairs, took him by the hand, and led him upstairs, where he finally regained at least a little sense of the situation, breaking away from me to stick close to Rosemary’s side, just as Mika began to stir.

I let her slide off my back as she mumbled in a dazed tone, “What happened…?”

“You fainted when you saw Kyle covered in blood.” I explained, holding out a hand to the girl. “You don’t look too good; wanna hold on to me for a while until you get your bearings?”

She shook her head before stumbling after the rest of our group, who was heading to the nearest music room – the one with all the instruments. “I-I’m fine… I think… just need a little walking…”

“If you say so…” I jogged up until I was only a few inches behind her, just in case she collapsed. Just then, however, Rosemary screamed. Again. “KYAAAAAAA!”

Mika immediately regained her bearings at the scream, reaching out behind her and grabbing my wrist before dragging me towards the music room, where… where…

… Kyle’s hunch had been right.

Her back against a wall spattered with her blood, and what seemed to be the back of her head bleeding, was the third dead student. Her pants were bloody, and a thin trail of blood escaped the side of her mouth, which was frowning. Her eyes were closed, and her eyebrows were creased into a worried look as her head was slumped to the side. On the floor next to her, sitting in a pool of blood, and the curved end especially covered in blood, was a large golden saxophone, probably the biggest one in the room. The red that bled from her head mixed in with the brown and blonde strands of her hair, and slowly dripped out onto the floor beside her.

Dara Ilaya, the Super High School Level Leader, was dead.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**30/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	17. Attack on MAPEH: Abnormal Days - Reflection of Myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are being turned inside out. What is going on?

**[02: ATTACK ON MAPEH – ABNORMAL DAYS – REFLECTION OF MYSELF]**

**< INVESTIGATION START>**

_“_ _Pim pom pam puuuuum~! All the bodies have been found! After a brief period of investigation, I expect you all to be at Barotilla Hall for the class trial!”_

“Bullshit… _BULLSHIT!_ ” Despite her coarse language, Mika was in disbelief and dismay at the sight of the slumped body of our Leader. Y’know, I could almost see the blood reflected in her eyes. With a wobble, the girl fell to the ground, unconscious, while Rosemary sank to her knees, Jenita clinging tightly to her and (probably) whispering reassurances in her ear. The three other boys who were with us, however, had mixed reactions.

JP’s was trying-too-hard-to-keep-calm. The Chessmaster was statue still next to the large harp, his left hand gripping the harp in an attempt to feel steady. And, judging from the way his knuckles were nearing white, I’d say it was a really, really, _really_ tight grip on that harp.

Eugene, on the other hand, seemed to be leaning more on the already-grieving-inside stage. Approaching Dara, the President seemed to be the only one not bothered by the blood coating the brown and blonde streaked hair of the girl, who looked even more fragile than usual in death. Kneeling in front of her, he pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, before cupping her face with his hands and looking even more downcast than before.

Justine’s reaction, however, was the most violent. The Attorney, in his disbelief, had backed away near a few shelves of what I assume were sheet music compilations in the corner, knocking over the first and creating a domino effect, making all the shelves fall over on one another, with him on top of the first.

“Nonononononono… no, no this isn’t real…” Justine’s eyes seemed to be glazing over as he backed away, clambering away on top of the shelves, as if trying to escape the reality that was staring him right in the face. “I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming, t-this isn’t real at all…! Hahaha, I’m… I’m DREAMING, **_RIGHT?!_** ”

Leaving the others to their own devices – they seemed a whole lot more preoccupied with Dara – I approached Justine, holding out a hand to him. “Justine, Justine calm down, it’s all going to be okay-“

“SHUT **_UP_**! DON’T TOUCH ME!” For the first time since I’ve met him, I saw a look of pure despair on his face. “THIS IS… t-this is all a dream, a-and I’m going to wake up soon…! So don’t touch… don’t touch me and drag me back into this nightmare…!”

My brow creased, and I clambered onto the shelves myself after him, not minding the horrified mew of Monocat on the screen ( ** _“MY SHEET MUSIC!”_** ), my hand still reached out. “Justine, I swear, calm down! Okay, so maybe not everything’s going to be okay, but we’re here with you! No need to get so worked up-“

“ ** _SHUT THE FUCK UP!_** ” Justine screamed, finally backing up against a wall, only to have a violin, which was hanging on the wall nearby, fall on his head. Suddenly, as if on cue, Justine’s whole body froze up, and, when I came closer, I saw red numbers flashing through his eyes.

A hand touched my shoulder, and I flinched before realizing that it was Jenita, who was staring at Justine with a look that might have been one of knowing, or one of concern. I wouldn’t really know: I can’t read minds. “We need to get him out of here.”

“Huh? Why? What’s going on?” I was confused as Jenita hauled Justine off his feet and traipsed the fallen shelves carefully ( **“ _Get off my beautiful shelves, you meowtherfuckers!”_** ), a sleeved hand firmly gripping one of Justine’s as she led him away from the shelves. I followed after them, making sure to avoid the sheet music as much as possible – damage to school property – before saying, “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Jenita turned to me, and I saw that her mismatched eyes were filled with some unrecognizable emotion. “The portion of his body that is robotic is taking over. His body has about 30 to 39% of his biological tissue, while the remaining percentage is purely robotic, which means that his humanity is slowly retreating behind the protective barrier of the cyborg side of him, which will not allow him to be harmed.”

“Wha…?” The sudden serious tone in Jenita’s voice made me utterly confused. Biological tissues? Cyborg? Robotic? Taking over? Humanity? What the hell? “What the heck are you talking about?! What’s with your serious tone of voice?!”

Jenita’s eyes flashed, and I swear I saw her pupils shrink into slits like a cat’s. “If I don’t get Justine away now, we might lose him forever to his emotionless cyborg persona. That would be classified as murder of a human being, and we might have to have a trial for him too… with _you_ as the culprit.”

“Me?!”

“You _were_ the one trying to get to him, weren’t you?”

“W-well, yeah, b-but-!”

“Let me take him away. You must all investigate this murder.” And with that, Jenita left, her cloak billowing, and the still-frozen Attorney in tow. Something didn’t feel right to me, however. As I stood up, questions began to pour into my mind. _Why’d Jenita suddenly talk like that? How’d she know about Justine’s biological structure… or whatever?! AND WHERE THE FUCK WERE HER CAT PUNS?!_

“Marc…” I blinked, and suddenly, Rosemary was standing right beside me, clinging to her arms a bit anxiously. Strangely enough, for a moment, I thought I saw Aiel there instead of Rosemary, the night before her murder, standing at my door, shivering. I blinked rapidly, and Rosemary’s figure soon returned. “… What?”

I coughed loudly, turning my head away for a bit. “Erm, nothing. What’s up, Rose?”

“Where is she taking Justine? What’s happening to him?” Staring off into the corridor where Jenita had dragged Justine off, Rosemary looked… _different_. I didn’t see the usually – dare I say it – psychotic and romance-obsessed Therapist standing beside me. Rather, I swear I saw someone along the lines of Dara expressing concern for the whole class. “Where is she taking my brother?”

“… I don’t kno- wait, your brother?” I gave Rosemary a hard stare.

The Therapist sighed. “Well, not really, but… he kind of is like the little brother I never had… he’s just so reckless and concerned for me that I… think it’s kind of cute.” With a fluid motion, Rosemary pulled off the green hair tie keeping her hair in a high ponytail, and with that, the reddish-orange curls that were once high above fell straight down past her shoulders. I waited for a bit as Rosemary fixed up her ponytail again, except this time it was a little bit better than the first.

“Jenita’s taking him away because apparently,” I made air quote signs. “Justine’s robot side is taking over because his human part is on shutdown due to seeing Dara’s dead body. She was acting really weird too: no cat puns whatsoever, and her voice sounded more serious than usual.”

Rosemary’s eyes widened a bit. “Wow, must be serious. I’ve honestly never heard Jenita like that before: she’s always so bubbly with me. Still… I’m concerned for Justine. This has never happened before, at least, I hope…? I mean, we wouldn’t know if this has happened before in the outside world because we’ve never met him before this place, so how could we help him…?”

“… But Jenita acted like it _has_ happened before.” I drew out slowly, glancing back at the other two in the room, who seemed to be slowly snapping out of their grief-filled trances. Mika was still unconscious. “She was rattling off percentages and specifics about Justine’s current situation as if she’s had this happen before!”

“…” Rosemary gave me the most incredulous stare ever. It looked like she wasn’t as anxious as before anymore, if she was staring at me like that. “… I’ll ask her about that later. For now, I think I’ll follow them and hope that Jenita isn’t performing some sort of dissection in the clinic. Bye, Marc!” And with that, the Therapist had brisk-walked away, disappearing behind the corner Jenita and Justine had gone through.

I turned back to the situation at hand, and goggled when I saw Eugene’s arms carefully supporting Dara’s small frame. “Eugene, what are you _doing_?! We’re supposed to be holding an investigation! You’re not supposed to mess with the body during investigations!”

“I’m bringing her someplace that isn’t filled with her blood.” Eugene’s voice was taut, but his eyes were sorrowful. “And besides, the only thing that can be considered as related to the investigation of her body is that the saxophone over there,” He glanced at the biggest saxophone in the room, which was on the ground. “Was the object used to smash her skull in from behind. The size of her wound fits with it, and it’s covered with blood.”

The blood drained out of my face. “Y-you looked at the…?”

“…” The President looked away pointedly, and I coughed loudly, saying, “Well, fine, I guess, I mean, I’m not the boss of you… I think? Go bring Dara wherever; we’ll finish up the investigation here, then go back to Joan and Andrea.”

Eugene eyed the two remaining people in the room. “… Are you sure you’re all fit for investigating here?”

“… I can manage by myself, I think?” I shrugged and laughed nervously, scratching the back of my head. With a curt nod, Eugene left, still carrying, Dara, and I, Marc Christopher Alelis…

… was left to investigate the scene of a murder with a statue-still Chessmaster and an unconscious Dark Magician.

_Bull. Crap._

As I examined every inch of the room for possibly hidden clues, I couldn’t help but ponder the sudden change of character for most of the people in the room. For starters, everyone who mentioned that they liked Dara had the strongest reactions and personality flips… for themselves, at least. I mean, Eugene didn’t change much, but at least he wasn’t as red faced as he usually was. Personally, I’ve never hung out with JP and Eugene before, so my opinion is sort of based on what I know on them…

Back on topic.

Justine however… I’ve heard enough about him to know that his actions earlier were a league different from his usual actions. And Jenita too; everything I knew about her disappeared then and there… oh, and the fact that Mika was apparently hemophobic had flown over my head.

I examined the saxophone lying on the ground, trailing my fingers on the part covered with Dara’s blood and shuddering. Why did I even do that? Why the hell did I just put my fingers on the bloodied part of a saxophone used to commit a quick murder?

I don’t know. I’m a dumb person. I shouldn’t be stuck in a place like this because OBVIOUSLY I’m going to get killed with the way my stupidity is flourishing.

… God, now I’m talking to myself too.

**_Nah, you haven’t been talking to yourself just yet._ **

What the hell?! What do you mean?

**_Okay, NOW you’re talking to yourself._ **

No, seriously, what do you mean?

**_Well, y’see, a while ago you were berating yourself, which isn’t technically talking to yourself unless you count insulting and degrading yourself talking to yourself. There’s a difference._ **

That’s not- oh come on, now I’m arguing with myself.

**_Good job, bucko. Get back to investigating._ **

Shut up.

“Marc…?”

My whole body froze up, and I forced myself to slowly turn around, only to meet the confused and questioning gaze of the SHSL Photographer, Ellianna. “… Who are you talking to?”

“… Nobody…” I glanced back at the saxophone before noticing something glinting near one of the bigger cellos, which was sitting a few meters away from the murder scene. Curious, I crawled over, as I heard Ellianna walk around, asking, “There’s blood here, but Dara’s body isn’t here? Why?”

I shrugged, hoping she saw the gesture as I felt around for whatever shiny thing I saw. “Eugene carried the body outside. He thought something along the lines of honoring Dara or something.” I stopped when my fingertips grazed something. “Hey, what’s this?”

Pulling it out, I realized it was some sort of… huh? “A camera lens?”

“Oh, I’ve been looking for that one!” Ellianna instantly snatched it out of my hands and caressed it as if it was some precious treasure. “This is the only prime lens I brought before I came to AxSci, and when I lost it, I felt like I lost a part of myself… I’m so glad you found it, Marc?”

I smiled; Ellianna seemed really relieved to have found her lens. “You’re welcome, Ellianna. Hey, when’d you lose it, anyway?”

“Sometime during the blackout, I think. I was trying to see if I could get high quality photos in the dark, and I was going to grab that lens, but I couldn’t find it in my bag.” Ellianna gestured lamely to the slingbag hanging next to her left hip. “I know, it was a stupid move, but that was when I realized it was lost, so I hung around Bordner looking for it because… well, because it’s pretty much the only place I hung out at.”

I nodded mutely before standing up and glancing over at JP and Mika, who were slowly starting to recover, apparently. JP had already let go of the harp, while Mika was sitting up, looking disoriented while she tried to fix her now disheveled hair. Ellianna looked at them as well before saying, “I’m going to go talk to the others. Y’know, check to see if they’re okay and stuff.”

“Go ahead. I’ll finish up around here, then see if I can help with the investigation of Andrea and Joan’s bodies.” With a little wave, Ellianna jogged away, and I approached Mika, holding out a hand to her, which she immediately refused, standing up shakily, only to fall back down again on her rear. It was then that it hit me.

**_“I know, it was a stupid move, but that was when I realized it was lost, so I hung around Bordner looking for it because… well, it’s pretty much the only place I hung out at.”_ **

So Ellianna only hung around Bordner… okay then. Filing that away mentally because hey, maybe Ellianna could’ve heard something, and I could bring it up during the trial.

“MIKA!”

I almost fell on my own butt as James ran in, looking rather distressed. Upon seeing Mika on the floor, however, his face immediately melted into one of concern as he picked her up by the waist – despite her very loud protesting **(“Let go! I can stand up perfectly fine on my own!”)** – and wrapped her into a tight bearhug, burying his face into her shoulder. I almost laughed as Mika’s face slowly changed from pale to pink to red to blue all within the span of a few minutes as she tried to choke out, “Let… go…”

“Jayoma, I don’t think she’s breathing.” Behind him, Juis had her arms crossed, smirking. “Care to let her go?”

“If I let her go she might get murdered…” James seemed very adamant about not letting the girl out of his vice grip.

JP shook his head rapidly, as if shaking his head of unwanted thoughts. “She’s getting murdered right now.”

It took James a few seconds before he realized that indeed, Mika seemed to be losing air, so he let her go… only to have her fall back on the floor on her butt. Again. The girl gasped for air as Juis shook her head, tutting as she held out a hand to Mika, which, for some reason, she willingly took. Hey, that wasn’t fair at all! Why’d she refuse my hand, but accepted Juis’s?!

“Sorry… I was just… erm, worried…” James pressed his index fingers together timidly like a schoolgirl as JP laughed and patted his back reassuringly, saying, “Nah man, it was okay. You were just worried, eh?”

“I could’ve DIED of oxygen deprivation!” Mika yelled at both of them, dusting herself off angrily, only to pause as the words sank in. “… wait… you were worried about me…?”

James seemed to have realized what he had just said, and immediately pink graced his cheeks. “Er… y-yeah, of course! I _am_ your loyal steed, right? Only natural that I’d be worried about you!”

“… I see…” For once, Mika looked like she was about to genuinely smile. _About to_ would be the keywords in this sentence; she instead decided to look around and say, “Where’s Eugene and… Dara?”

Juis tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Oh, I saw Eugene talking to Monocat. Or would it be considered ‘a’ Monocat, since there’s lots of her? Oh well.” With a nonchalant shrug, she added, “Must be about getting those glass coffins out early or something.”

“Speaking of which, the newest Monocat Files showed up.” James pulled out his Student ID, and tapped on it a few times before saying, “Just tap on the arrow on the right, and you’ll be brought to the new ones.”

I nearly punched myself in the face. The Student ID! Despite its small size, it had a faint glow to it whenever it was dark. Ugh, if only I had thought to bring it out during the blackout… it might have helped! With a frustrated groan, I pulled out my Student ID and brought up the Monocat File tab, hovering over Aiel’s crossed out picture before tapping on the arrow to the right, which brought out the new Monocat Files. Everyone else did the same.

The victims were Andrea Embuscado, Joan Setias, and Dara Ilaya.

Times of death also varied. Andrea at 8:05, Joan at 8:30, and Dara at 8:57.

Victims were found in different places. Andrea in the Student Center, Joan in the Amadome, and Dara inside Music Room #2.

Causes of death were different. Andrea’s was the slitting of her throat by a sharp object, while Joan’s involved her eyes getting gouged out by two sharp things. Dara’s was blunt force trauma to the head caused by a dull object.

I looked up. “I already investigated here, and it’s quite clear that the saxophone was used to smash her skull in. I also found a camera lens, but that belonged to Ellianna and she lost that before the blackout. That’s it.”

“Are you sure?” John Paul looked at me sternly, which looked so out of place on his face, for some reason. “You could have missed some things.”

“Then go investigate this place yourself!” Mika snapped, turning sharply towards James. “We’re going to investigate Joan’s body. _Now_.” And with a haughty sniff, she grabbed James by the sleeve and dragged him away, the Singer waving goodbye to us before the door slammed behind them. Juis did a double take, glancing between John Paul and the door, before finally saying, “I think I’ll stay here with JP and help him double check. D’you wanna… go after them, Marc?”

I shook my head. “I’m not gonna pursue them, but I’m leaving this place for now. I wanna go help whoever’s investigating Andrea’s body. You sure the two of you will be fine here?”

“Absolutely peachy.” JP gave a thumbs up. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be finished here in three moves, or my name isn’t Eugenio Torre.”

I only sweatdropped as Juis gave him the oddest of looks. “But your name _isn’t_ Eugenio Torre, you dummy.”

“My point exactly.”

I just shook my head, chuckling, before leaving the two of them to their own devices and leaving the room, descending the stairs nearby while looking around, my thoughts wandering. For what I estimate to be thirty minutes (despite the trip normally taking about ten minutes), various thoughts surfaced in my brain as I made my way back to the Main Building, ranging from normal (“I wonder if we’re still going to be able to eat lunch…”) to the questionable (“I wonder what Eugene’s doing with Dara’s body…”) to the disgusting (“I wonder if Kyle managed to wash off all the blood…”).

And then a thought about Justine surfaced.

 _Justine…_ I blinked, pausing directly in front of the stairs. That’s right… Jenita led Justine away somewhere to ‘fix’ him! Maybe the investigation of Andrea’s body could be postponed-

**_“Pim pom pam puuuuum~! Alright, you bastards. I’ve had enough o’youse scrabbling around for the clues when you’ve already found them all! I want you all in the Amadome this instant, or I’m going to execute your sorry asses!”_ **

I just sighed. _I didn’t even get to help in the investigation of the other two bodies…_ With a groan, I shuffled towards the Amadome, where, oddly enough, Joan’s body was nowhere to be found. I raised an eyebrow at this, and, as if answering my question, a Monocat popped up beside me, purring, “On Eugene’s request, I had the bodies put into their coffins before the trial, but not before allowing your bastard classmates to examine the bodies first. Don’t worry; you didn’t miss much. Kyahahahaha~!” With a loud cackle, Monocat bounded towards the stage, and I tightened my fist, walking stiffly over to the spot between Ina and Dave.

“Hey, you okay, Marc?” Dave asked, tipping his hat at me. “You seem kinda tense.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine to me.” The Secret Agent took off his fedora, letting the curly messes of auburn hair breathe for a few moments. “Did you get to investigate a body before getting called here?”

I watched as Juis and John Paul emerged from Lover’s Lane, taking their places. “I only got to look at Dara’s body and the place we found her body in. Didn’t get the chance to investigate Joan’s and Andrea’s properly. How about you?”

“I investigated Andrea’s with Ina, Kyle, Nahangel and Rafael.” Dave replied, pushing up his glasses because they looked ready to fall off. “Didn’t get to investigate much else, sadly. Say, speaking of which, where’s Kyle and Ellianna?”

Now that he mentioned it, the two weren’t exactly around. Jenita and Justine seemed to be missing too. I glanced at their circles, and looked all around for them while still remaining in my spot. “Yeah… where _are_ they?”

“Alright, then, my lovelies- wait,” Monocat paused, examining each of us in turn before meowing, “Where’s Ellianna and weenie baby Jatulan? And Jen and Pawstine?”

“He’s _not_ a weenie baby!” Juis yelled at her, clenching her fists. “And I’m sure Kyle’s just double checking on his roommate’s body in their room! He actually _cares_ about his roommate, regardless of status, unlike _some_ people I know!” As she said so, her gaze flitted to someone, and when I followed her gaze, I blinked in surprise to see that she was glaring at Wilson, who only avoided her gaze and shoved his hands into his pockets.

Monocat tutted. “Well, if you say so-“

“We’re here!”

“Sorry we’re late!”

Nearly everyone turned towards the southwestern entrance to the Amadome, where both Ellianna and Kyle emerged, looking out of breath. Ellianna, however, looked more anxious, while Kyle had the weirdest haunted look on his face, like he had seen a ghost. As they walked towards their spots, Kyle passed by me, mumbling something, and I strained my ears, trying to understand. What I understood, however, sent a chill down my spine.

_I’ll make her pay._

“I’m going to count to ten now.” Monocat said seriously, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. “If I reach ten with Jenita and Justine still not here, we’re having this trial without them, alrighty? One.”

Everyone looked at each other. “Two.”

I swallowed harshly. “Three.”

Ina tugged on her sleeve a bit nervously. “Four.”

Wilson looked disinterested. “Five.”

Juis glared at him. “Six.”

Charles’s glasses glinted out of the corner of my eye. “Seven.”

Across from me, Arah shifted the weight of her body to her other foot. “Eight.”

Ana tugged on her ponytail nervously. ”Nine.”

Beside her, Ellianna seemed to smile. “Ten.”

“Tiiiiiiime’s up~!” With another cackle, a button popped up in front of the cat, and with a small mallet, smashed the button. “To the trial room we go!”

I braced myself, expecting a hole to open up beneath me and suck me in. However, what showed up instead was a large bubble… _thing_ , which enveloped me and encased me inside. Similar bubbles emerged from beneath the others and did the same thing, and, within a few minutes, we were all in large bubbles, floating above the ground and rolling around in them.

“This is amazing!” Reymon was in awe, floating above me. “What technology was used to make this, Monocat?”

Monocat’s grin seemed all the more eerie. “Technology that you’re very familiar with, I assure you! Now hold on tight!”

As we floated up towards the top of the Amadome, a hole opened up in the center of said roof, which our bubbles seemed to be attracted to. Despite all our tumbling inside our bubbles away from the hole, our bubbles floated towards the hole, and, one by one, we began to go through the hole, which seemed to be connected to a pipe thing that probably led to our courtroom.

“You gotta admit Monocat’s really creative with these transportation methods.” Nahangel, who was floating in front of me, said, grinning. “I wonder where the courtroom is this time?”

“Judging from the fact that we’re floating,” Arah’s voice sounded from behind me. “I’d say that the courtroom is an extension of our fake sky, and that behind the fake sky we left behind is a large courtroom, standing precariously on very unstable foundations.”

I was about to reply when a blinding light crossed my vision, and I shielded my gaze, just as my bubble hovered two inches above the ground of what I assumed was the courtroom. When my eyes finally adjusted, I stood up, albeit shakily, and the bubble popped, allowing me to stand in front of my stand and wait as the others floated to their places too. Monocat was sitting in another tall chair like before, purring to herself as the others settled down. I took this chance to observe my surroundings and gape.

Our surroundings this time seemed to be one of those carnival mazes. Y’know, the one with the mirrors? Mirrors were on every corner of the room, even on the floor, and when I looked down, I saw my face staring sullenly back at me. Andrea, Joan and Dara’s stands now held photo frames of them on tall poles as well. Last time, we had some sort of fairytale forest setting, and now, it was some sort of creepy carnival mirror maze. What was going on?

“I _hate_ mirrors.” Mika grumbled, staring at herself through the nearest mirror. I shook my head, smiling, but not before gaping when I saw her reflection making weird faces as she turned her back. At my weird look, she asked, “What?”

“Um…” I pointed lamely behind her, and she turned around, looking at her reflection. “Marc, I don’t know if you didn’t understand me, but I’ll repeat what I said: I don’t like mirrors.”

“ ** _Well yeah, I mean, you look terrible, so why would you want to look at your reflection?”_** Her reflection smirked, and Mika jumped back, shaking. “ ** _Undesirable, and goth too! The great Dark Magician is afraid of her own reflection!”_**

 ** _“Well, who can blame her for being afraid of us?”_** Ana shrieked when her reflection cackled. **_“We’re obviously prettier than the originals, and better! You know why?”_**

Charles seemed to snarl when his reflection spoke up, albeit timidly. “ ** _B-because… because we have never ever thought of killing anybody…?”_**

 ** _“Exactly.”_** Even Arah seemed startled by her own reflection, which seemed to be leagues more mature than her. **_“Reflections don’t kill people. Only the real people kill people. And that makes us much, much better than you.”_**

“What is this bullshit?!” Bonn yelled at Monocat as his reflection fanned himself delicately. “Tell me, you stupid-ass cat!”

Monocat cackled _again_. “Why, they’re your reflections, of course! Whether you recognize them or not, they’re you, and you’re them! Or they. Whatever. Both of you cannot live without the other, so whether you like it or not, they’re you! Kyahahahaha~!”

“But… I’m not like that…” Rosemary jerked her thumb at her reflection, whose hair was madly tangled up, and her face looked deranged. The reflection snarled, **_“Keep wishin’, sweetheart! I’m you, and you’re me, and nothin’s gonna change that!”_**

Monocat huffed. “Trust me. These mirrors know all.”

“What’s the purpose of them, anyway?” Reymon asked, glancing at his reflection, which seemed to be asleep. “What do they have to do with the trial?”

The cat who called herself our principal sighed. “I thought it’d be fun having them around this time around! Shame that Jenita and Pawstine aren’t here; I would’ve loved to see their reflections talking too!”

“But-“

“Enough with the formalities!” At this, Monocat’s red eye flashed. “I declare this court iiiiiiiiiin-“

 ** _“Let’s hope you survive.”_** My reflection said, smirking.

“-SESSION!”

** TRIAL TIME… ALL RISE! **

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**30/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**

 


	18. Roll Out The Drums of War - Prelude To The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second trial is in session; all rise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what even is proper writing

Everyone seemed very unsettled during the second trial of life and death, most of them fidgeting and glancing at each other. Heck, I myself was sweating a little. The deaths of the Leader, the Artist, and the Dancer, for some reason, had much more of an impact compared to the deaths in the first trial, and… I think I can understand why.

The first trial had the Otaku, the K-Prophet, the Friend, and the DJ die. There _was_ an impact on all of us that time, because for one, it was the first murder, and the Super High School Level Friend died. With her being the one holding the ties between all the countries and being pretty much the one preventing another World War from happening, it set off a wave of unsettlement between most of us.

The fact that it was also one of us, one of our fellow students who had murdered her, and Arfel and Hunny, also set in stone that yes, people you knew could become murderers.

No matter the kind of person they were before coming to AxSci and what you knew about them.

No matter how much you know them.

_Aiel…_

It was Arah who started the discussion for the murders again this trial, placing a hand on her hip and reading out loud once more from her Student ID, “So we have Embu, Joan, and Dara as our victims this time. They all died within the hour, with Dara bordering on 9, and were found in different places.”

“We should start off with the most recent dead body, which was Dara’s.” Bismarck stated, crossing his arms before eyeing each and every one of us sternly. “Did anyone here investigate hers thoroughly?”

I nodded, raising my hand. JP and Juis raised theirs as well, almost simultaneously, as I said matter-of-factly, “I know that the object used to smash Dara’s head in was the saxophone lying next to her-“

 ** _“Which would’ve been PAINFULLY obvious to the regular onlooker,”_** My reflection added, smirking. I shot a glare at him as Juis continued where I had left off. “When Marc left, I discovered a trail of blood leading from where Dara had been leaning on the wall, which meant that technically, she had been standing when she was murdered. The murderer must’ve approached her from behind in the dark and smashed her skull in before dragging her over to the wall and leaving her and the murder weapon on the ground.”

JP added, “When we were leaving, I noticed a few droplets of blood on the floor, leading all the way to Lover’s Lane, which meant that the killer had taken that pathway away from the murder scene. I also found the cover to the large hole in Lover’s Lane near the retail store, and I tripped over a hose while I was investigating the pathway to the garden. The hose’s nozzle was really close to the hole, come to think of it.”

“So _that’s_ why Kyle fell in!” I glanced at Kyle, who only looked away at the memory of himself being covered in blood. “So wait… are you saying that the murderer washed themselves off in that particular hole, when they could’ve just washed themselves off in the bathroom?”

The side of Charles’s mouth curled upward into a smirk. “Obviously the murderer wanted the blood gone from their person while it was fresh, and the hose and the sink nearby were the most viable options for-“

“I never knew there was a hose and a sink there in Lover’s Lane,” Paula mused, interrupting the Translator. He groaned, “Paula, please, let me finish. Like I was saying-“

 ** _“It would’ve been like totes obv if you actually looked, Pau Pau!”_** Paula’s reflection said in a shrill voice, one that could’ve been easily compared to that of a ditz. Paula seemed to shrink back at each word her reflection said. **_“Joshie, my sweet eyeless baby, he would’ve noticed it too, and y’know, he doesn’t even have eyes! That’s sayin’ a lot considerin’ we’re both four-eyed people!”_**

“If you _did_ see, then why didn’t you show up and tell me?” Paula snapped.

 ** _“Duh; there weren’t any reflective surfaces!”_** Her reflection said in a know-it-all tone, making Paula groan in frustration.

“Plus,” Monocat added, shifting so that she was sitting properly on her tall chair… throne… thing. A paw on each handle, she said, “Lemme tell you guys right now that your reflections will only talk if the mirror or reflective surface you’re looking at is Mirror Man patented!”

 _What…?_ “Mirror Man patented?”

“Works with TV Fish, the cool guy.” Monocat giggled, bobbing her head back and forth. “Mirror Man, as his name says, is a friggin’ mirror, and all his mirrors show aspects of a person’s true self, or a part of themselves. Kinda ironic that TV Fish works with memories and Mirror Man works with the self, huh? Kinda blows my mind thinking about it, kyahahahahaha!”

Arah’s reflection slowly ran a hand down her body until it slowly placed itself on her right hip. The Secretary looked undeniably uncomfortable as her reflection pursed her lips in a slight pout before saying, **_“It would seem that… we’re all reflections of the real person. Reflections of what they truly are… or their mind’s hidden desires. We embody the desire to be someone we’re not… right?”_**

“Correctamundo, nya~!” Monocat cheered. “You can’t deny it; they’re all a part a ‘youse! Like they always say, people are different through the mind’s eye! No wonder your memories are total _shit_!”

“Can I _please_ get back to my explanation now?” Charles nearly begged.

The dual colored cat sighed. “Fine, fine, you big, whiny, four eyed baby lemon. Go ahead and talk about your _stupid_ explanation that nobody wants to hear from someone like you.”

“Thank you.” The irritated tone in Charles’s voice told everyone that he didn’t like being insulted like that, but was still thankful he could finally explain. “Like I was saying, those were the most viable options in the dark, and almost nobody frequented Lover’s Lane, so it was easy to wash whatever had blood off there.”

…

...

...

... Huh?

“That’s it? That’s your whole explanation?” Monocat asked after a few moments of silence.

Charles looked baffled at the question. “Er… yeah. Why?”

“You mean to say... you interrupted my emotionally damaging speech about your shitty memories for something as stupid and irrelevant as _that?!_ ” The cat sounded absolutely pissed. “How _dare_ you, you whiny lemon face!”

I waved a hand at Monocat. “Monocat, that was actually relevant to the discussion…”

“… Technicalities, technicalities.” Monocat turned away and sniffed, lying back down sideways on her chair. “Go ahead with your trial, kiddies. And hurry it up; my execution machines are getting impatient!”

I shuddered before saying, “Well, if it helps, I also found Ellianna’s prime lens in the music room, but she says she lost it before the blackout.”

“I can vouch for that.” Arvin crossed his arms. A sound that sounded a lot like sighing came from him, though I couldn’t be certain; the tall collar that obscured most of his face wasn’t being very helpful. “She’s been bothering me to help her look for it for hours before the blackout.”

“Did she borrow a flashlight from you too?” Mika asked skeptically.

The Basketball Player nodded, pulling out a flashlight. Ellianna pulled out the one she had been holding earlier, and true enough, the flashlights were identical. “I bought all the flashlights, and coincidentally, Ellianna wanted to borrow one in case she needed to adjust the light in her pictures.”

“Why’d you buy so many flashlights anyway? Who needs that many?” Bea pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Arvin sounded a bit embarrassed. “… Well, having many lights on at night reminded me of the basketball court… so I…”

“… No explanation needed bro.” Dave held up his hands in defeat. “No explanation needed.”

 ** _“You’re an embarrassment.”_** Arvin’s reflection told him, at which the boy flashed a middle finger at him.

Bonn huffed. “So Dara got killed by a saxophone. Okay, that clears up hers. What about Joan? She fuckin’ got murdered in the middle of the Amadome!”

“I-I can… I can tell you what happened…” Ana stammered, her whole frame shaking like a leaf. It took Charles patting her back to get her to calm down enough to say, “W-well… I-I don’t know if you guys in the Music Room noticed but… d-did anyone notice any missing drumsticks?”

Drumsticks? “No…” I mumbled. What did drumsticks have to do with- oh.

“Based on… w-what I examined of her body… the things that gouged her eyes out were drumsticks…” Ana was stuttering less now as she continued her explanation. “I-It was Aisley who found Joan’s other eye, though…”

Aisley wrinkled her nose. “I nearly sat on it when I was going to just sit down and leave everyone else to investigate. Found it in a corner in the UCB.”

“R-right…” Ana swallowed harshly before continuing, “The ropes sitting near her wrists… they’re telling me that Joan must’ve had her wrists tied so that she wouldn’t t-turn the drumsticks on the murderer.”

Nathan nodded sagely. “Judging from the rope burns on her wrists, I’d say she fought to get free, and only broke them when it was too late. Her position and the short trail of blood behind her also say that she was trying to crawl away, only to… well, you know.”

 ** _“P-poor Joan… the murderer even stabbed through her glasses…!”_** Charles’s reflection soundeda whole lot sweeter than him, and definitely more concerned for the wellbeing of others. **_“B-but… I-I thought drumsticks had rounded ends…?”_**

“He’s right, drumsticks have rounded ends.” Ellianna pointed out. “How’d the murderer stab through the glass and pierce the eyes?”

Reymon’s reflection yawned before going back to sleep, mumbling, **_“Zzz… pressure… more force… zzz…”_**

“… Aha!” Reymon’s eyes glittered. “He’s trying to say that if you put pressure into blunt objects, they _can_ pierce through things. Hell, they’ll hurt more than sharp ones, ‘cause they’re dull and all, and having objects like that pierce through you hurts a whole lot more!”

Daenna’s hands clasped together as she smiled. “Even your reflection is as intelligent as you, despite being asleep! Truly, you are a wondrous person filled with surprises!”

 ** _“Hands off, Princess Puffycheeks, he’s ours.”_** Rosemary’s reflection growled making Rosemary flush red and punch the mirror in an attempt to shut her up.

Daenna looked indignant. “Princess _Puffycheeks_?! Well, I _never_ -“

“You can talk about yer lovelives later, ladies.” Monocat yawned from her tall chair. “And you there. Yeah you, Rosie’s reflection. Shaddup and let the others have their trial.”

 ** _“…”_** Rosemary’s reflection sniffed, running a hand through her hair.

I sighed, looking around. “Since we’re done discussing Joan, who here investigated Embu’s body?”

 ** _“Like, definitely not me!”_** Juis had to hold back from punching the mirror behind her as her reflection added sassily, **_“Like, this girl over here, she was like, trying to kiss up to, like, JP of all people, while double checking the Music Room? I know, cause like, I was there, being reflected on all the shiny instruments.”_**

Nahangel’s reflection facepalmed. **_“Somebody put a plug on her, or I swear to God I’m going to smack a bitch.”_**

 ** _“You mean you’re going to smack yourself?”_** Bonn’s reflection asked with his eyes wide with curiosity. **_“Why would you hurt yourself, Angel? That’s self-harm!”_**

Nahangel’s reflection gave Bonn’s reflection the driest of looks. **_“… You know what, never mind. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”_**

 ** _“Like, that’ll be easy.”_** Juis’s reflection said before Juis said through gritted teeth, “Can somebody _please_ respond to Marc’s question before I strangle myself and get rid of her?”

“Well, I was there investigating,” Rafael raised his hand. “With Ina, Nahan, Kyle and Dave. Though I can’t really say the same for…” He glanced at his reflection behind him, who scoffed and said, **_“Trust me, I was there. There was a reflective surface in the Student Center.”_**

Nahangel nodded in affirmation. “Yeah. After you guys left, I found these things on the ground near the post Embu was tied to.” Reaching into his pocket, Nahangel pulled out a pair of something that looked like blue fingerless gloves, which wouldn’t seem that out of place, had he not put them on and punched the air, releasing long blue hooked claw things.

 ** _“You look totally manly in those. Like a tiger.”_** Shanayah’s reflection sighed to Nahangel’s reflection, which made poses behind the real Nahangel. Bonn’s reflection looked steamed.

“Those look like Jenita’s clawntlets!” Rosemary exclaimed, putting a hand to her mouth as her reflection sniggered, **_“No duh, honeybunch; who else in this damn school carries weapons of mass murder as a cosplay item?”_**

Nahangel punched the air again, sheathing the claws, before taking them off and returning them to his pocket. “They’re made of some durable reflective blue colored metal, so yeah, it’d be impossible for Raffy’s reflection _not_ to be there, if he didn’t examine Embu’s body up close.”

“When I lifted them up to Andrea’s face,” He continued, running a hand through his hair. “The three long gashes that ruined her face had the exact same measurement of the claws, and when I put them up to the tears on her clothes and arms and legs, they were the same too. The slit on her throat didn’t match the claws though, so the claw gauntlets-”

“ _Clawntlets_ ,” I corrected automatically before slapping a hand over my mouth. I could hear my reflection sigh behind me, muttering, **_“English nazi.”_**

Nahangel gave me a wry smile. “Yeah, clawntlets, I meant the clawntlets. Like I was saying… the clawntlets couldn’t possibly be the thing that slit Embu’s throat; the gash was thin near the end, and the cut became deeper near the center of her throat. The clawntlets, with their hooked ends, couldn’t have possibly created a cut like that. That rules it out as the murder weapon.”

“And that would be because I found this on the scene.” Kyle pulled out a knife, initiating gasps from everyone in the room. His reflection laughed, saying, **_“Kinda cliché, huh? But smart, if ya count the fact that the clawntlets could’ve misled you.”_**

Monocat cackled again. “Mrroowr, this murderer gets an A+ from me for effort on getting two weapons in one murder! But… a B-, for leaving them both on the scene. How stupid can you get, nya~?”

“I found it under a blackboard-on-wheels in the corner, where you would’ve missed it if you didn’t look hard enough.” Kyle continued, looking even more serious than usual. And who wouldn’t be, if you just found the murder weapon that ended your roommate’s life? “It fit the exact dimensions of the gash on her throat, so there’s no doubt that this was what was used to kill Andrea.”

Ana looked blue in the face as her reflection drawled, **_“Oh, how absolutely macho of you, Jatulan the original, to try and bring justice to your roommate’s death! I can feel myself falling for you right now, unnnghh~!”_**

“Kyle, you should probably put that away before you hurt someone.” I cautioned to the Swimmer, whose grip on the knife only tightened. “Kyle…?”

Monocat sounded only a little bit concerned. “Yeah, Jatulan, fork it over. I gotta replace that one now ‘because nobody wants to eat with a formerly bloodied knife.”

“…” Kyle’s gaze grew dark. He gritted his teeth as he drew out slowly, “No… I… I want to execute Embu’s murderer myself. I’m going to make _her **pay**_ for murdering my roommate. And nobody… nobody’s going to stop me!” As he said the last word, he knocked over his stand, the knife poised in a stabbing position, lunging for Ana, who shrieked loudly and moved out of the way, the knife hitting the mirror instead. Strangely enough, the knife only bounced away from the mirror.

Nathan and Wilson both moved fast, running towards Kyle and holding him back by the arms while Ana clung to the nearest person, which happened to be Charles, sobbing. Her reflection purred, saying, **_“Mmm, I like ‘em feisty! Meeeoooow!”_**

“What’s gotten into you, Jatulan?!” Wilson yelled, trying to hold back a struggling Swimmer, who was still gripping the knife dangerously. “Let go of the damn knife already, this isn’t Assassin’s Creed or whatever game you’re trying to copy!”

Kyle’s reflection yawned, stretching out his arms before placing both hands behind his head as if he didn’t have a care in the world. And he probably didn’t; he was only a reflection, after all. **_“If it isn’t clear to all of you, he’s trying to get the both of us executed for murdering Ana.”_**

“What?!” Eugene slammed a fist on his stand in indignation. “Kyle Jatulan, explain your actions right now! Why are you trying to murder Ana in the middle of the trial?!”

Kyle didn’t respond at first, still struggling against his captors and growling obscenities that even exceeded the level of Bonn’s obscenities. And I’m pretty sure you know how obscene he could get – he was the Super High School Level Rulebreaker, for God’s sakes. The knife was brandished a few times, but only barely missing Nathan and Wilson, until finally, Kyle’s body grew slack, and he let go of the knife, allowing it to clatter against the floor covered in mirrors.

Ana was still clinging to Charles nervously, shivering at the sudden attempt at her life. I have to give the guy credit; he moved so that his body was shielding Ana’s. It was Juis who decided to move, however, approaching Kyle and trying to meet his eyes, bending down a little because Kyle had hung his head.

“Kyle…” Juis said in a coaxing tone. Kyle didn’t move. “Kyle… why did you try to stab Ana? You know you’ll be counted for murder if you hit her.”

“I…” I had to strain my ears to hear Kyle’s raspy response.

“Yes?” Juis reached out and lifted up his head until they were face to face with each other. “Kyle, why?”

“I…” Kyle looked down again, and I almost gave up on him…

Until he yelled out the words that startled everyone into a loud cloud of confusion and distress.

“I’m trying to murder her… because _she’s_ the one who killed Andrea!”

**[TRIAL TIME: INTERRUPTED]**

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

**30/37 STUDENTS AT COURT**


	19. Roll Out The Drums of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything you believed in was a lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at the shitty writing i did

**[TRIAL TIME: RESTARTING…]**

_“I’m trying to murder her… because she’s the one who killed Andrea!”_

… Wait, _what the **FUCK?!**_

I couldn’t be the only one not processing this, right? I looked at everyone else, desperately searching for the confusion that Kyle’s statement had evoked. Sure enough, confusion was quickly blooming on everyone’s faces, ranging from the gaping, to the inability to speak, to making dumb looks. It looked like everyone had become three year olds that had just been told that Santa Claus wasn’t real on Christmas Eve, and, if I had to guess, I looked like them too.

“You’re… you’re joking, right?” Juis backed away from Kyle, sounding like she was starting to worry about his mental health. “ _Right?!_ ”

Kyle shook off Wilson and Nathan’s grips, which had loosened due to the shock. He dusted himself off before saying, “All the evidence points to her murdering Embu… and probably Joan and Dara too!”

 ** _“Hoo boy, he’s gone off the deep end.”_** Rosemary’s reflection said to Mika’s reflection, who scoffed and rolled her eyes before saying, **_“As if YOU haven’t.”_**

“That’s… that’s crazy! Why would you…” I kept drawing a blank every time I tried to connect how Ana… sweet, innocent… timid and frequently terrified Ana… could _possibly_ be the murderer. Looking at her right now, I couldn’t see how a murderer could hide behind someone as fragile-looking as her. Either she had really, really, _really_ good acting skills… or she _wasn’t_ the murderer. “Why would you pin it on _Ana_ of all people?!”

Kyle seemed very determined in his point. “Ana’s the Super High School Level Baker. She uses all sorts of cooking utensils in the kitchen, doesn’t she? A knife is one of the main utensils she can use, which was the exact same murder weapon used on Embu. The clawntlets were supposed to be a distraction, something that would point at someone else, in this case Jenita, being the murderer, when in reality it was her who did the deed!”

“That’s a very… _creative_ way of putting it, Jatulan.” Bea said slowly, her gaze darting around nervously. “But that doesn’t explain why Dara and Joan were found at different places, and with different weapons.”

The Swimmer crossed his arms. “Obviously she killed them when she came across them because she’s a bloodthirsty killer. When you’re on a rampage, obviously you wouldn’t care about who you killed, as long as you killed somebody and got out of here. She knew that the things used to stab Joan’s eyes out were drumsticks because she had been at the Music Room previously, where _Dara’s body was found_. If she hadn’t been at the Music Room prior, she wouldn’t have known that those were drumsticks, right?”

“That’s flawed logic!” Aisley adjusted her glasses before staring at Kyle. “It clearly states there in the Monocat File that Dara died minutes after Joan, so how could ‘Ana’,” She made air quotes at her name. “Have murdered Dara, grabbed the drumsticks, and _then_ headed for Joan in the Amadome? Besides, it was pitch black in the whole school, remember?!”

Kyle turned his gaze to Arvin. “Arvin, were any of your flashlights missing aside from the one Ellianna borrowed?”

“… I dunno… I don’t think I checked.” Arvin looked deep in thought behind his collar, his eyebrows furrowed. “I wouldn’t really know unless we took a look at the flashlights in our room again, but we’re kind of in the courtroom now.”

The Swimmer’s fuchsia eyes were stone cold. “Charles. Check Ana’s pockets.”

“W-what?!” Ana immediately recoiled from Charles, bumping against a mirror. Her reflection groaned, saying, **_“Stop being jumpy, will you?”_**

The Translator turned to Ana, a bit uncertain. “Ana, let me check your pockets. Please. We need Kyle to shut up about you being a murderer, and we can’t do that if you’re acting like your usual jumpy self.”

“B-b-b-b-but…” Ana looked at all of us before swallowing and approaching Charles, shaking. The boy then patted her down, checking all her pockets. I counted on my fingers, crossing them mentally, hoping that just maybe… maybe… she wasn’t the murderer. Maybe…

“What’s this?”

God fucking damn it.

Charles reached into the right pocket of Ana’s apron and then paled when he pulled out a flashlight and a few pieces of broken rope. Everyone fell silent as Ana’s reflection said, **_“Oooooh, BUSTED!”_**

“I-I swear, I’ve never seen those before!” Ana wailed, tears welling up in her eyes. Kyle had a look of cruel victory on his face, his cold smile betraying the feeling of justice he must’ve been trying to hide. Everyone looked at her pityingly as she continued to insist, “I-I never had those in my pocket during the whole blackout!”

Ellianna sounded very sure of herself. “All the evidence points to you, Ana. Why don’t you just give up and admit that you murdered them?”

“BECAUSE I **_DIDN’T!!!_** ” Ana cried desperately, the tears now flowing down her face freely. Ana’s reflection tutted, saying, **_“That’s really helping our case, y’know? Just keep crying and maybe people will take pity on you and vote for some other sucker.”_**

Kyle then said, “So let me recap all that you’ve done today. When the blackout occurred, where were you?”

“… T-the canteen…”

“Exactly. You were at the canteen, and when the blackout occurred, you decided to begin your crime by making your way to the kitchen, where all the cooking utensils were. You knew this kitchen like the back of your hand because you and Embu were baking there before, and thus, you were able to locate this knife,” At this, Kyle picked up the knife that he had dropped, staring at it. “In the dark. Rosemary, was Jenita looking for her clawntlets before the blackout?”

Rosemary thought for a bit before shrugging. It was her reflection who replied instead, cackling. **_“Hell yeah, sugarplum! She’s been screeching about it even before she went with us to the Music Room!”_**

“Then it all adds up. She found Jenita’s clawntlets somewhere, then, knowing that Embu was holding an art exhibit up in the Student’s Center, she made her way upstairs, but not before nabbing a flashlight from Arvin.” He then turned to Arvin. “Did you leave your door open during the blackout?”

Arvin shrugged. “I dunno man. I was asleep. I remember forgetting to close it, but that’s it.”

“But I knocked on his door during the blackout,” I recalled, tapping my chin. “So that meant the door was closed.”

“Or… the door was closed by the murderer themselves.” Kyle said in a finishing tone. “Then she made her way upstairs using the stairs near the stairs to the canteen, then made her way to the Student Center, where she used all the weapons she needed to commit the crime. She lured Embu to the pole, then tied her up there before killing her. She hid them in places, sure, and then she left minutes before the lights came on and I discovered Embu’s body.”

I tried to think about this while he continued to talk. _Did Ana really murder them all…?_

“While the lights were on, she made her way to the Music Room, where Shanayah and Dara were, right?” Kyle looked towards Shanayah, who looked hesitant to agree. “Shanayah left afterwards, but Dara was still there while Ana looked around. The blackout then occurred again, and Ana chose that moment to strike, knocking her out while she made off with the drumsticks and left.”

_Think, Marc. Think of anything that could prove Ana innocent._

“While running in the Amadome, she must have felt around for someone, anyone. She ran into Joan in the Amadome, who was looking around for people on the prowl, and then she decided that she would be next, wrapping her wrists in leftover pieces of rope before striking.”

Juneth seemed deep in thought. “So wait… Joan got tied up by her wrists so she wouldn’t fight. I get that. But why’d Embu’s body get tied to that pole?”

“From what I saw, she was tied up after her death.” Rafael said, untying and retying the golden sweater around his neckline. “She must’ve been tied up there for fun, or… something.”

Ina shook her head. “Raffy, you’ve got that wrong. The lack of blood on the outer side of the ropes may say that she was tied up after the murder, but it was plain to see she was tied up _because_ they were going to murder her, just like Kyle said. When they lured her to that pole, they must’ve immediately tied her to it, scratched her face, and _then_ slit her throat as the killing blow.”

_Marc, THINK. **THINK**._

**_“Thinking hard, are you?”_** My reflection said. I turned to him as Kyle continued to talk. “Well, if wasn’t obvious, then yes, I’m trying to prove Ana innocent. I just _know_ she’s innocent, despite all the evidence pointing to her.”

My reflection crossed his arms. **_“I know what you’re thinking, numbnuts. I’m you, remember? I share your thoughts too.”_**

“I guess so…”

“So when she killed Joan, pulling out one of her eyes in the process, she threw them away somewhere inconspicuous, like say… a corner of the UCB, before running away to Bordner, just as the lights turned on. When they turned off again, she ran upstairs to where she incapacitated the girl, only when Ana made it back, Dara had woken up, so she then grabbed the nearest instrument – a saxophone, and then smashed Dara’s skull in with it, instantly killing her. She then dragged her body back to where she had left her knocked out the first time and left, washing off in the hole in Lover’s Lane with the hose nearby, and then abandoning the cover near the retail before escaping.”

 ** _“Think about it, Marc.”_** My reflection said – let’s call him Mirror Marc. **_“I know who the murderer is, but since I’m bound to this mirror, I can’t tell you directly. I can only help you recall.”_**

“Recall _what_?” I asked him, still utterly confused.

 ** _“Think back to previous conversations you’ve had with people.”_** Mirror Marc coaxed. **_“I can remember them, but you yourself need to remember them. Remember.”_**

My brow furrowed as I tried to recall a few snippets of the previous days.

_ Arah pushed up her glasses just as Eugene yelled in frustration at the speakers again. “I can tell you’ve put the pieces together. I’m surprised you haven’t picked up on this before, what with your general efficiency at picking up clues during that first murder.” _

_ “Ehehehe… that really wasn’t all me, you know…” I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly before asking tentatively, “Uhm… so if you’re not worried about Ana and Paula… then, are you worried about anyone in particular?” _

_ A small sigh escaped Arah’s lips. “Actually… I’m quite concerned about Ellianna.” _

Wait… I remember this conversation.

_ “Oh? Why?” _

_ “She’s been acting quite strangely after the motive giving,” Arah confessed, taking off her glasses to clean them a bit with a cloth. “Normal people would not be able to notice the difference, but I consider myself to be quite perceptive, and well… she just seems a bit more unsettled than usual.” _

_ “How can you tell?” _

_ “Look,” A finger pointed in the direction of the Photographer, and I narrowed my eyes, trying to see what she could see. “Observe her general posture, the way she holds herself up. She’s a lot stiffer than she usually is, and a mere touch from someone makes her flinch.” _

_ I raised an eyebrow. Ellianna looked… the same. Pretty much the same as usual, though Arah was right when she said that she flinched every time someone touched her arm. “… She doesn’t seem that different, Arah.” _

_ “… Just watch out for her, alright?” When I looked back at her, I could see concern clouding her gaze. “I… I’d honestly hate for someone I considered as more than an acquaintance to get into trouble of any kind.” _

I looked back at Mirror Marc. “Are you…”

 ** _“You’re coming close to the answer. It’s about to bite you right on your button nose.”_** Mirror Marc tapped his own nose as a guarantee of sorts… I think.

_ “You’re worried about the rest of them, aren’t you?” The Secretary asked me, though it sounded more like an obvious statement than a question directed at me. Her crystal blue eyes softened as she continued, “You’re worried that the others were shaken up badly by the first murder, execution, and second motive.” _

_ I cracked a small smile. “Well, yeah, in a way, I am… especially for Ana and Paula. You saw how she reacted yesterday to the motive… and Paula…” _

_ “I’m concerned about their wellbeing as well, Marc, though quite honestly, I’ve decided to put my faith in both of them and hope for the best.” With a gentle smile, she glanced towards someone, and I followed her gaze to see Ana actually attempting to talk to the others, and smiling a little less nervously than before. “I don’t think that either of them will be able to commit a murder.” _

_ “Why do you think that?” _

_ “Well, for one, Ana wouldn’t hurt a fly.” _

That’s right… Ana was indeed too timid to do what Kyle was currently describing. No matter how cunning she could’ve been… she couldn’t have been able to think of all of that on the spot. She couldn’t have predicted the blackout.

Monocat yawned. “So, has efurrypawdy agreed on one murderer yet? Then we can start the voting-“

“Wait.”

I stopped thinking when Arah spoke up, sounding even more dead serious than usual. The Secretary pushed up her glasses before saying, “I do not agree to your accusatory words against the Super High School Level Baker, and I believe… Marc doesn’t believe so as well, correct?” She turned to me, her lips twitched up in a smile, but said smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Yeah… yeah!” I turned back to the rest of the class. “I believe Ana is innocent!”

Ellianna sounded a bit miffed. “What other proof do you have, Marc? It’s clear that Ana’s the murderer. Everything all adds up perfectly.”

_ I glanced back at the saxophone before noticing something glinting near one of the bigger cellos, which was sitting a few meters away from the murder scene. Curious, I crawled over, as I heard Ellianna walk around, asking, “There’s blood here, but Dara’s body isn’t here? Why?” _

“Ellianna… not everything adds up perfectly.” I drew out slowly. “As much as I hate to offend anybody, Ana couldn’t have done the murder with all that complicated stuff without knowing about the blackout beforehand.”

Arah nodded. “Only someone with prior knowledge of the blackout occurring would have thought of a plan such as that, and, from what I can see, Ana seems incapable of doing such a feat. No offense to you, Ana.” Ana only hiccupped in response, the tears still running down her face.

“But dude, _nobody_ knew about the blackout beforehand.” Bonn tried to reason. “It was some bullshit concept that Monocat sprung on us all of a sudden.”

Ellianna crossed her arms. “If they did know, they would’ve been told by Monocat personally that the blackout would occur three times before 9 o’clock, which is just after breakfast, just enough so that they’d make it to the next murder scene and commit the murders in the dark and clean up afterwards.”

“Ellianna…” Something didn’t seem right. “… How’d you know all that?”

The Photographer sniffed. “Arah said the murders occurred within the hour, didn’t she?”

“No, not that.” I shook my head. “Why’d you say 9 o’clock, and not some other time? You could’ve said any other time.”

“Uh, the time they died was on the Monocat File?” Ellianna sounded sure of herself, but the way she stared at me was unsettling.

“But how would you know how fast the murderer could’ve made it to each murder scene? Like, you said just after breakfast, specifically, and said that that would’ve been ‘just enough’ for the murderer to make it to each murder scene in the dark.”

“…”

Mirror Arah pursed her lips again. **_“What do you have to say for yourself, darling?”_**

“There’s also the fact… that Monocat never announces who’s dead to everyone, right?” I looked up at Monocat, who I seemed to have caught in the act of playing lioness. “You announced Andrea’s death to us only, right?”

Monocat thought for a bit, removing the fake mane around her face before nodding, saying, “Yeah, I remember telling only a few of you bastards that a Lavo girl died, kyahahahaha! That wasn’t a public service announcement though; I made sure of it!”

“See? And yet…” I pointed at her. “You asked me where Dara’s body was when we were in the Music Room. How did you know that the body that used to be there was Dara’s… when Monocat only said that three bodies had been found?”

Ellianna froze up.

Ana peered at Ellianna through teary eyes. “Elli… anna…?”

“You were the one with the flashlight on the third floor of Bordner, weren’t you, Ellianna?” I drew out slowly, as I noticed everyone slowly beginning to look like they understood. “We met up with you near the entrance to Lover’s Lane in Bordner… you ran downstairs, didn’t you?”

Ellianna didn’t respond.

I then glanced at the bag by her hip. “I found your prime lens under a cello during investigation… you didn’t lose it accidentally, did you?”

“But wait, Arvin said she’d been bothering him before the blackout for it too.” Juneth pointed out.

Arah stared directly at “Arvin… did she _really_ bother you for it beforehand? Tell us the truth, now.”

“…” Arvin’s head sunk lower into his collar until only the top of his head could be seen over the collar.

At this, Arah clicked her tongue. “That proves it. You were trying to cover up for Ellianna, weren’t you? You knew what she was going to do… right?”

“…” Arvin slowly began sinking to the floor.

His reflection only sighed, shaking its head. **_“The messes you get us into, Vinny boy. They are unbelievable.”_**

Ana then gasped, returning attention to her. “I-I… I passed by Ellianna… while I was going to investigate Joan’s body… she bumped into me… a-and…” Almost instantaneously, something dark came over Ana as she wiped away her tears and stared at Ellianna. “Y-you… you tried to… f- _frame_ me…?”

“… Fuck me.” Ellianna swore.

Kyle’s eyes were wider than dinner plates as he backed away to his stand, reeling backwards from the revelation that his accusations had, indeed, been as wrong as they sounded. Ana slowly walked towards Ellianna, saying, “You… you bumped into me… running away… from your crime… a-and… you slipped these… these _things_ … in my pocket… h-how… how… DARE **YOU!** ”

“Just because I’m the easily scared one… y-you tried to pin it on **_me?!_** ” Ana was slowly losing her stutter as she advanced on Ellianna, who backed away from her. “You… you murdered three beautiful people… you killed them just to get what? Your stupid, _stupid,_ **STUPID** lost memories that are probably not even **_REAL_**!? You’re… you’re sick, Ellianna! **_SICK!_** You’re… you’re the heartless murderer… ”

“… Ellianna Areola!” Ana pointed at Ellianna as angry tears streamed down her face. “You’re guilty of murder!”

In response, Ellianna yelled back at her, “Well, you’d have murdered too if you wanted to know about the only real friends you ever had!”

… Well, that confirmed it.

“I knew none of you guys really liked me.” Ellianna stared at each and every one of us. “You think I’m nosy, a huge bitch even, and very controlling. I mean… that… that just isn’t fair! Mika’s a controlling bitch too, but hell; she’s got Justine, Rosemary, James and Jenita!” She gestured to the Dark Magician, who flashed the middle finger.

Ellianna looked down, her hair shielding her face from the rest of us. She was shaking. “I… nobody really liked me… I knew that you guys didn’t really like my company… that you just went along with whatever I wanted to do because you didn’t want to piss me off… I didn’t… I didn’t like that…!”

“You never liked me, did you?” Ellianna looked up and looked at Juneth, who froze before shaking her head slowly. When Ellianna stared at her some more, however, Juneth then began to nod slowly. Her whole body shaking, Ellianna screamed, “NONE OF YOU ASSHOLES REALLY LIKED ME AT ALL, DID YOU?! ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO DID… SHE’S ALREADY DEAD!”

_Aiel…_

Ellianna glanced down at her hands. “I… my memory had the only real friends… I ever had… they told me all the things wrong with me… and that they wanted to help me change for the better… unlike _all of you_. None of you ever told me if you were uncomfortable with what I did with our ‘friendship’. That… that’s not being a good friend…!”

“A real friend would help the person recognize their faults… and…” Ellianna continued to shake. “And they were the only ones… who pointed out my flaws… and still liked me for it… and wanted to help me change for the better… so I thought… I… thought…”

“Ellianna…” Aisley seemed to be at a loss for words.

Monocat yawned loudly. “Well, if it’s settled, and everybody agrees to it, y’all can vote now. _Then_ I can return Ellianna’s precious memories. Oh, and, just for the record, _Beatrice,_ ” Bea gritted her teeth at the usage of her first name. “These memories aren’t faked in any way. All right, let’s start the voting, you bastards!”

Everyone selected Ellianna Areola in a heartbeat. Ana and Kyle, however, slammed their buttons down. Like before, another cheerful fanfare played, but this time, something like glitter fell from some sort of trapdoor on the ceiling, covering us all in sparkly things. Mika looked like she wanted to throw up as she shook off as much glitter as possible, getting them on most of the people near her, who looked pissed to have even _more_ glitter on their person.

“Once again, you all got it right~! Ellianna Areola brutally murdered Andrea Embuscado, Joan Setias, and Dara Ilaya!” Monocat cheered to herself, spreading even _more_ glitter with a magic wand thing, making Bismarck sneeze violently. “Since Ellianna failed to get away with it, she’s only going to get those specific memories back. What a _shame_ , meowww!”

Standing up on her chair, we watched as Monocat did this odd dance that involved her wearing a weird mask with horns. After a few rounds of spinning, however, something dropped down behind her.

A large screen.

**_ “Ellianna, Ellianna hey!” _ **

My eyes widened. Monocat was broadcasting Ellianna’s memories for all to see. Fuzzy silhouettes appeared on the screen.

**_ “Ellianna… I want to be … with you.” _ **

**_ “WE … to be honest with you.” _ **

The three different voices were distorted, just like in my own memories, but as they continued to talk, they slowly began to be more understandable.

**_ “As your friends, we want to help you change, okay?” _ **

**_ “You’re a … person, okay? You should know that. But you cursing so often… and your telling of … secrets isn’t a good thing to do!” _ **

**_ “O-oh no, don’t get mad, please! We just want you to change for the better…!” _ **

Daenna’s face began to pale, as did Aisley’s. The voices were becoming very familiar…

A slapping sound was heard.

**_ “Ellianna, LISTEN TO ME! Your bullying of people, both physically and emotionally, no matter how frequently you do so… that isn’t right!” _ **

**_ “I want you to understand that we’re your friends, okay? We want what’s best for you…” _ **

**_ “… but if you can’t understand that, then you’re a hopeless case.” _ **

**_ “Take responsibility for your actions, Ellianna. You need to understand that not everybody will go along with you willingly.” _ **

**_ “Emotional blackmail is never the answer… Ellianna, are you listening to me?! Jesus Christ…” _ **

**_ “You know, if you don’t at least try to change for the better, everybody will start leaving you! Hell, most of them already did! But you know what? We’re still here!” _ **

The silhouettes on the screen soon began to reveal themselves, and once they did, I could feel the sudden drop in temperature. Everyone’s blood had run cold at the revelation.

Ellianna stared at the screen long and hard, her face paler than a sheet as Dara said, **_“I’m still here, and so is Embu, Aisley, Joan, and Carina! That’s got to mean something, right?”_**

 ** _“We’re here because we care about your wellbeing, okay?”_** Joan continued, smiling. **_“I know you’re a really nice person when you want to be, but you know… I can’t stand to see your relationships with others getting destroyed because you can’t change on your own.”_**

 ** _“Girl… you need help.”_** Andrea said, crossing her arms. **_“But hey, don’t worry about it! We’re right behind you, every step of the way!”_** The screen then shut off.

…

“Wait…” Ellianna continued to stare as the clamps emerged from hidden panels in the mirrors. They attached themselves to her wrists and ankles as she drew out, “Wait… I… I murdered the only real friends I had…? But… wha…? That… that’s not…”

Monocat purred. “Turns out, the people Ellianna considered her only real friends and wanted to get back to were the exact same people she murdered brutally to _get_ back to said friends! Isn’t that such a deliciously twisted plot twist, nya~? I can feel the despair here, even! This trial has definitely been oh so fuuuuuruuuuitfulllll, miyaaaaaaaaao~!”

“No… **NO**!” Ellianna screamed as Mirror Ellianna waved a quiet goodbye to everyone. The mirror she was in swung open to reveal a doorway, where Ellianna was dragged screaming and kicking. “ **MONOCAAAAAAAAAAT!!!”**

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

** ‘ROLL OUT THE DRUMS OF WAR’ **

The reflections all waved goodbye as the mirrors collapsed and a large screen circling us replaced it. Everything was dark at first – the screen was a pure black – and nothing seemed to happen… until Ellianna’s eyes opened up in the darkness. Said eyes darted back and forth in the darkness, confused, until suddenly, drumming sounds could be heard coming from somewhere.

Ellianna’s eyes then began bouncing in all sorts of directions, in time with the drum beats. Suddenly, everything became clear as it zoomed out to reveal that Ellianna was _inside_ a huge drum, bouncing around. A giant Monocat robot thing, just like before, was playing said drum, while a bunch of other Monocatbot things were cheering, as if it was a real marching band. Some of the Monocatbots were holding cameras a lot like Ellianna’s, and were taking pictures of the ‘marching band’.

Finally, however, the drum fell apart, and Ellianna was on the ground, dizzy from all the bouncing around. When she finally came to, however, she barely had time to react when a pair of large cymbals from the large Monocatbot smashed her flat.

Her blood dripped out of the cymbals slowly, as newspaper clippings suddenly began falling out of the sky. I grabbed one of them, and goggled at the headline.

**_“Mind Over Matter; When Everything Has a SMASHING Finish!”_ **

_What do you do when all you’ve been fighting for has been a huge, fat lie? What have you been fighting for then? Have you been fighting for nothing? What happens when you realize that the you that you thought you knew very well turned out to be a you that you never knew? The mind can play many tricks on you, right?_

_Ah well, at least if you put mind over matter, then you’ll have the most delightfully SMASHING finish, won’t you?_

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**29/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	20. Maceda - A Building's Essence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not progressing at all

**[03: - VALLEY OF THE SOULS (AB)NORMAL DAYS: A BUILDING’S ESSENCE]**

They would never understand the irony in her execution. The Super High School Level Photographer, getting tossed around inside a drum, and getting smashed flat by a pair of cymbals? What kind of execution was that? They would ask Monocat that, but the cat would only laugh. I knew the significance, though… and that just made it hurt all the more.

_“My parents wanted me to be recognized for a talent I can actually utilize in most everyday situations; drumming won’t get you a degree, but photography at least has a chance.”_

I closed my eyes, remembering her words and tucking them away into the corner of my brain. I would never forget them… unless somebody erased my memory or something on a whim. Holding the memories of those who have passed on deep in my heart… that would be the one thing that would always stay with me, no matter what. I would make sure of that.

Kyle was the first to speak after the execution, turning to Ana, but avoiding her gaze, staring at the floor. “I… I-I’m sorry I-“

_SLAP!_

Everyone froze at the sound. Kyle, his eyes wide, reached up to touch his now sore cheek, staring at the girl with cerise eyes that seemed to be blazing with anger. Her hand was poised, ready to strike again, when her eyes suddenly widened, all the anger melting away, as she stared at her hand and at Kyle alternately, slowly beginning to shake. I felt my pupils dilate as I moved forward, pushing past some of the others – Charles made an indignant noise when I accidentally knocked him down – to reach out just before Ana collapsed to the floor, wrapping my arms around her torso as her whole frame was wracked with sobs, her crying dotted by hiccups again.

I didn’t let go as bubbles soon began engulfing each and every one of us once again, only this time, I was sharing one with Ana, who seemed inconsolable, turning to cry into my shirt freely. Normally, I would’ve minded, but right now… I think Ana needed a shoulder to cry on first.

“I-I-I didn’t mean to h-hit…” I had to strain my ears to understand Ana’s garbled words amidst all her hiccupping as our bubbles made their way through the pipe and back into the Amadome, where everyone landed safely on pillows that Monocat seemed to have prepared beforehand. Charles wasn’t as lucky; he landed on Juneth, who immediately punched him in the face and knocked him out.

Once our bubble popped, Kyle came running over, with JP and Juis behind him. JP seemed more concerned for Kyle, while Juis seemed more concerned with the fact that Ana was trying to hide inside my jacket. I only sweatdropped as JP asked in a really-out-of-it tone, “Uhm… there appears to be a little girl… hiding inside your jacket…”

“That’s Ana you idiot!” Juis tugged on JP’s ear and twisted it, making the boy yelp with pain as she asked, “Ana, are you okay?”

“I’m _so_ sorry for accusing you back there… I-I…” To his credit, Kyle looked very remorseful, tugging on the strings of his jacket anxiously. The knife he had been holding was nowhere to be found; Monocat must’ve confiscated it already. “I-I just… Andrea…”

“N-no…! I was the one who actually hit you…!” Ana shook her head violently before sobbing loudly again and zipping up my jacket so that her back was pressed _very_ close to my chest, hiding behind the shield that was my jacket. “V-violent… I was being violent… noo…”

Kyle rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Well… erm… y’know, I deserved that-“

“NO ONE DESERVES TO GET HURT!” Ana screamed, still hiding inside my jacket. I was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable at the close proximity, but…

JP looked utterly confused. “Um… no one preserves a Frankfurt?”

“Oh my God, you’re as deaf as a… well, a deaf person!” Juis said in exasperation. “I can’t believe you’re the Super High School Level Chessmaster when you’re this stupid!”

“You’re one to talk, when we don’t even know _your_ title.” Wilson approached us with his arms crossed, Rosemary and Aisley right behind him, chatting up a storm. “How about spilling it to us, hm?”

Juis huffed, glaring at Wilson as the rest of the class began gathering around us. “I… I don’t know what my title is, okay? I don’t remember my title!”

“Or maybe you don’t even have one!” Bonn pointed out, shoving past Ina and Dave and pointing at Juis accusatorily. “Maybe you’re not even _from_ this school! Hell, maybe you’re Monopussy’s fuckin’ _spy_!”

Nahangel groaned. “It’s Mono _cat_ , not Mono _pussy_.”

“Cat, pussy, tiger, I don’t give a fuck.” The Rulebreaker declared, staring Juis down in a staredown that could’ve rivaled Mika’s and Justine’s whenever they fought out in the open. Juis wasn’t going to back down, and neither was he, as her charcoal eyes locked with his forest green ones. “What kinda person doesn’t even know their Super High School Level?!”

Nathan tried to mediate, moving in between them and saying, “Friends, now is not the time to be arguing about whether or not Juis is a spy for our notorious two-toned principal kitten. Now is the time to be investigating the new building, is it not?”

“… Who are you, and what have you done with my roommate?” Arah eyed the SHSL Gourmet the way he would’ve eyed a roasted turkey laced with vodka – critically. “Or have you truly learned the way of the mediator from me, Nathan?”

Nathan made a gesture then bowed. “I am merely following in your footsteps, Sensei Arah. Am I doing it right?”

“Sensei Arah?” Aisley glanced at Arah with an eyebrow raised. “Since when?”

The Secretary had to turn away a bit while Eugene eyed her curiously as pink bloomed like a carnation on her face. “A-ah… well, you see-“

“-Arah thought that food shouldn’t be my only priority, yeah?” Nathan yawned before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bar of chocolate, unwrapping it and nibbling on it from time to time as he continued, “I mean, yeah, sure, I’m the Super High School Level Gourmet n’ all, but there has to be more to my life than just sampling and knowing food, right? So Arah here kindly decided to take me under her wing and teach me the ways of being a mediator, seeing as that lots’a you are fighting often.”

Juneth seemed… oddly pacified. “Well, that’s really nice of you, Arah. You too, Nathan.”

“Hehe.” I had to keep myself from smiling widely as Nathan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. The guy looked so much like a huge teddy bear, it took a lot of self-control _not_ to just go up and hug him. Not that he’d mind too much; I heard he liked hugs. “So uh, are you guys still gonna fight, or…?”

Juis huffed daintily, crossing her arms and looking away, while Bonn just shook his head and grumbled before they both said in resigned tones, “… No… I’m sorry…”

“That’s good!” Nathan tilted his head to the side and gave everyone this really adorable smile.

Okay, picture this. Kittens and puppies and other baby animals raining down from the sky and covering you up and just basically loving you forever. While in your most favorite place in the whole world. While being able to do whatever you want. While being surrounded by your most favorite foods and people. And everyone’s smiling this million-watt smile at you that just makes you want to smile too.

Imagined it? Good. That’s the effect Nathan’s smile brought. It rivaled Aiel’s in radiance, but in innocence? Nooooooo. Nathan was a big teddy bear. He has one of the cutest smiles in the world, hands down. He’s so cuddly and cute and I just want to pinch his cheeks and hug him senseless-

“Marc? Maaaaarc? Marc, snap out of it!”

“Wha-huh?” I blinked rapidly, and then noticed that Bea was apparently trying to shake me awake. “What happened? Did I miss anything?”

Charles sighed as Mika hovered beside him, playing with her braids. Well, not literally, since she’s the Dark Magician and all, but you get the idea. “You zoned out while everyone was filing away towards the new building. Bea insisted that we waited for you, however.”

“We need to check on Justine and Jenita first.” Mika mumbled beside him, twirling her left braid in her hands. “Justine’s missed two trials now, and I’m starting to get a feeling that there’s a reason behind all that.”

I coughed. “Well, you know, he missed the first one because he was patching you up. This time, Jenita’s patching him up.”

“But wouldn’t _you_ know how to patch him up?” Charles glanced at his ‘twin sister’. “You _are_ his roommate, and thus, more experienced.”

Mika rolled her eyes. “Brother Dearest, you must be joking. He’s never acted this way around me when we were in our room. I’d have noticed if he _wasn’t_ insulting me in any way. Funny; I’m starting to…” The girl chuckled harshly. “… I’m actually starting to become worried for his wellbeing.”

“Ugh. You’re disgusting.” Charles pinched the bridge of his nose in response. “Just admit that you want to have hate-filled makeouts with him already and we can get over everything.”

I bit my tongue at the sudden burst of red spreading all over Mika’s cheeks. “You _asshole_. _I_ don’t talk about you and your royal roleplay with Juneth.”

“Erm…” I cringed at Charles’s sick grimace. “Guys… shouldn’t we be getting on with it and checking on the two of them instead of… doing whatever it is you’re doing?”

The two immediately stopped, each blushing varying shades of fuchsia, while Bea chuckled and locked arms with the Translator on one side and with the Dark Magician on the other. Gesturing to me, she coaxed, “Come on, Marc. Our destiny awaits!”

“Our destiny involves a lot of soul-wrenching agony.” Mika deadpanned in the flattest tone possible.

I could only chuckle nervously as we traveled to the clinic.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Once we arrived there, we were alerted of Justine’s current situation. The attorney was currently functioning properly, running a database check on himself while sitting down on a bed, while Rosemary was sitting down beside him, one of her hands intertwined with his in an anxious grip. There was another person there, but I didn’t really recognize them until they turned arou- whoa.

“Hm?” The girl turned, and I barely had a chance to register what I had just seen before the face was replaced by Jenita’s mismatched eyes and eerie smile shining from within the doom and gloom of her hood’s darkness. “Oh, Marc, Charles, Bea, Mika! Glad to have efurrypawdy here!”

Rosemary only gave us the smallest of nods in acknowledgement. “Y-yeah… hey, Justine, is that normal?” She pointed to one of the things being reflected in front of Justine, making the cyborg sigh and say, “Yes, Rose, that’s normal. I’m functioning correctly, and all my internal organs seem to be in order.”

“So… how’ve you been?” I asked, rocking back and forth on my heels.

When he looked at me, I could feel the tiredness and grief in his eyes. “I… I’ve been better, yes. I’m totally fine, though.”

“Are you _fucking_ with me?” Before I had a chance to respond, Mika stepped forward, staring Justine down with burning violet eyes. “You are in no way fine. You should’ve shut your mouth the moment you said you’ve been better, ‘because that would’ve been a more acceptable response than what you added after that!”

“Mika…” Bea tried to intervene, but the girl seemed to be on a roll, batting away the projected screens that Justine had brought up in front of him and grabbing Justine by the front of his shirt and jacket, hissing, “Rosemary told me everything that happened to you while I was out cold on the ground, and… and…!”

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable slap Mika would bless Justine’s cheek with.

And yet it never came.

“… I-I…” I opened one eye, and then opened the other, staring in confusion and awe, as Mika’s grip on his shirt seemed to loosen as her whole frame shook, her head hanging low. Straining my ears, I could pick up the faint sound of quiet sobbing. “I-I… I thought I’d lost you…”

Charles sighed again, crossing his arms. “ _Please_. He’d still be physically here-“

“But he wouldn’t be _him_!” Mika yelled right back at him. “He… he’d be even deader than he is right now! He wouldn’t just be half dead – he’d be 100% dead! Nothing but a useless… hunk of…” At this, she faltered, and basically just stood there, shaking and glaring at Charles.

It was then that I decided to step in. “Hey, you guys, you really shouldn’t be arguing here. I mean, Charles, that was a douchebag sentence, Mika, that was an overreaction, Justine, that’s bullshit, you’re not okay at all.” The three gave me their own different versions of a miffed face as I continued, saying, “Look, what matters right now is that the second trial is over, a new building is open, and Justine is _still_ Justine. Capiche?”

“Yeah!” Bea snapped her fingers, placing a hand on her hip and grinning widely. “Investigation is still going on there with the others who wanted to investigate! You guys up for it?”

I flashed a ‘thumbs up’ at her, then glanced at the others, waiting for their response. Rosemary seemed adamant about staying with Justine and Jenita, while Jenita looked eager enough to join. Justine himself seemed a bit out of it, while Mika and Charles were- oh come on.

“Stop butting heads, you two.” I said firmly, separating the two. Moments ago, their foreheads had been pressed together while I wasn’t looking, and they were having an intense staredown. “You can butt heads _after_ the investigation… unless you want to stay here?”

Mika huffed, crossing her arms. “I’m going to find James.” And with that, she stormed out of the room, presumably to look for said Singer. Charles made a face behind her back before facing the wall, harrumphing as well. I shook my head, exasperated, as Rosemary asked worriedly, “Are you going to join the investigation, Justine?”

“I don’t see why I shouldn’t.” The Attorney squeezed Rosemary’s hand reassuringly. “I’m feeling better, and I’m quite sure that whatever possessed me that one time when she… _fell asleep_ … will not resurface during said investigation.”

The Therapist looked quite worried. “But… still, we can’t be sure, you know?”

“Rosemary, he’s fine if he says he’s fine!” Jenita grinned and stood on tiptoe, patting Justine’s head with a sleeve. The boy shook it off as she continued, “Besides, I heard that there’s something pawesome in the new building!”

“Something awesome?” Bea looked hyped. With a whoop, she linked arms with me and Charles before yelling, “See you guys at DIIINNNEEEEEEER!”

And that is the story of how I never got a say in anything ever again.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**BUILDING UNLOCKED: MACEDA BUILDING [WESTERN SCHOOL BUILDING]**

This time, the new building unlocked was the Maceda Building.

A building with four floors, just like the Main Building, with something above the fourth floor that I couldn’t really see from the ground floor. According to the people I passed by – Nahangel, Rafael, and Bonn - , most of the rooms were just abandoned classrooms, with some of them containing boxes and bookshelves with books in them.

Bea and Charles had gone ahead, scouting for Arah and the others, while I lingered on the ground floor, entering the first room I saw. It appeared to be the remains of a staff room, with desks and various items in their usual places. Notebooks were piled up on some of the desks, as if there was still unfinished work to do for the teachers who were no longer here.

 _Who knows what Monocat did to our real teachers..._ I thought grimly, picking up a notebook from one of the nearer desks. The name on it belonged to someone who wasn’t here, but for some reason, the name was very, _very_ familiar to me.

“’Emilio Limpo’, huh?” I mused, flipping open the notebook. I then deduced that ‘Emilio’ had nothing better to do in his life besides doodling all over the pages while keeping notes and a journal of sorts. I scanned the journal entries with curiosity.

 _September 14, 20XX_ (The ‘x’s were parts I couldn’t really read)

_Bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit._

_I don’t understand girls at all. Like, why they got to make things so complicated? Everything is just a huge jumbled mess because of her. I can’t play mediator forever._

_Wish they just resolved everything without acting like such pussies._

I didn’t really understand what he was talking about, so I closed the notebook, returning it to the pile, before moving to another table and taking the notebook on top of the pile, not bothering to check the name. Despite belonging to another pile and another teacher, the student seemed to have a journal as well.

_January 201X_

_There’s nothing I want more than to make something happen, you know. I don’t think you know what I’m talking about because you’re my teacher and you’re not reading my mind, but anyway, pretend you know what I’m talking about. I’ve already discussed the thing with them, and they think it’s a great idea. Sometimes I wonder if they genuinely like it or if they’re just going along with everything I say._

_It’s already been plotted out. I’ve already gotten all the variables in check, and nothing is going to get in the way of my plan for ultimate-_

The entry stopped there. After the word ‘ultimate’, there were only black lines doodled messily over the blank space. Turning to the next page, I was greeted with a list of names that made my eyes widen.

_Andriella Pardilla_

_Arfel Catipay_

_Hunny Laurente_

_Joshua De Vera_

“These are…” The names of the people in the first murder. It seemed very uncanny that the names all happened to be grouped together… and strangely enough, there were stars and hearts beside some of the names.

_Dara Ilaya_

_Ellianna Areola_

_Andrea Embuscado_

_Joan Setias_

The names were out of order this time; Joan wasn’t the murderer. With a furrowed brow, I moved to the middle of the notebook.

_March 19 2XXX_

_I’ve already enlisted Fab’s expertise in programming to help me out. He doesn’t know what I’m really planning, to be honest. He just thinks I’m trying to learn programming from him._

_What a naïve, naïve,_ **_ IDIOT _ _._ **

_I hope the others will be as easily manipulated as him._

Who was this ‘Fab’ person? Swallowing, I turned to the last page of the notebook, where there was only a few sentences.

_June XX XXXX_

_In honor of the name of our class, I’ll be calling it ‘Kepler Ronpa’._

_Everything is going to be fun, you’ll see, Teacher._

_I hope you and our ICT teacher will be proud of me. Of us._

_I’ve put so much thought into this._

_Everything will go according to plan._

The last words on the page were large, extremely stylized, blackened, and underlined for more emphasis.

**_ You’ll see. _ **

 “What the…” My eyes widened in surprise, and just then, somebody snatched the notebook out of my hands, shaking me back into reality. I looked around, and then grumbled when I saw it was Monocat, wearing a really thick jacket for some reason. Said cat tucked the notebook I had been reading into her jacket as she hissed, “What are you doing here, Marky?! Shouldn’t you be with Boobs-a-lot and Princess Pricklypants?”

“Give that back!” I tried to reach into her jacket, but Monocat batted me away with a paw, her claws unsheathed. “I was reading that! It’s rude to take away things while people are still reading them!”

The mini-‘principal’ huffed. “I was going to clean this place up before you guys got here because these things are mine and some of them are embarrassing!” At this, the cat began fanning herself with a paw. “Aaah… embarrassing… very lewd items… AHEM! I WANT EVERYONE OUT OF THIS HERE STAFF ROOM THIS INSTANT!”

“But I’m the only one here-“ I was cut short as, miraculously enough, Monocat lifted me up and threw me out of the room, screeching, “OUT! O-U-T, OUT! I’M DOING SPRING CLEANING!” And with that, she slammed the door, which now had a sign reading “SPRING CLEANING: DO NOT DISTURB”.

I stood up, rubbing my backside. “Ugh… she could’ve just pushed me out, but no, she _threw_ me out…” I was about to leave when I heard Monocat scream, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, MEOWTHERFUCKER?!”, making me turn around, only to have Dave flying straight into my face, knocking me down, _again_.

“AND STAY OUT!” Monocat yelled before slamming the door again.

I groaned as Dave rolled off of me, stretching. Sitting up, I checked for broken bones as Dave said, “Man, what was her problem? I was just reading a really neat journal in the corner…”

“I didn’t see you there.” I grumbled, rubbing the back of my head. “How did I miss you? You’re wearing such a distinctive hat.”

Dave tipped his hat, grinning. “Secret Agent, pal. I know how to disguise myself and be as inconspicuous as possible. Though, _how_ Monocat managed to find me, I have no idea.”

“What were you reading, anyway?” I asked, standing up and dusting myself off, holding out a hand to the Secret Agent, who gladly took it and hoisted himself up before answering, “Oh, some sort of dirty romance story. It’s amazing how some teachers don’t even read what’s in the journals and just put check marks on them to signify it’s checked!”

 _Dirty… romance story?!_ A searing blush spread across my face as I stammered, “R-really now…? What was it about?”

“It was about this guy breaking the rules for this guy he cared about a lot and having to actually do the dirty with him to get both of them off scot-free.” Dave had this luminescent blush on his face that made me wonder _exactly_ what the contents of that story were. “I don’t really read things like boys’ love stories, usually, but it was better than that shitty story in that other notebook.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What was it about?”

“Oh, about a group getting trapped in a school and getting killed.” Dave replied off-handedly before his eyes widened. “Wait a minute…”

**“DAVE ANATALIO, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!”**

Both of us jumped, and Dave turned around, revealing a very pissed off Ina Tercero storming towards him, a happy Juneth jogging after her and a disciplined Arah striding elegantly behind both of them. Juis was trying to catch up to all of them, her charm bracelet making various tinkling noises as she jogged towards us, and way behind her, I could barely make out the shape of Nathan, who seemed to be walking after them at his own pace.

“Hey there, baby, what’s shaking?” Dave flashed Ina an award-winning grin, only to have the Mathematician wipe it clean off his face by punching his shoulder and yelling, “Don’t ‘baby’ me, Dave Anatalio! What have you done with my compass?!”

Juneth bounced around us, saying, “Yeah! What didja do to Ina’s compass? She’s been looking for it ever since she decided not to help investigate!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Dave replied, sounding utterly confused.

“You’re her… you’re her…” Juis leaned against me once she reached up, panting heavily while speaking in broken sentences. “Her… room… mate…!”

The boy with the hat shrugged his shoulders. “So? I don’t touch Ina’s stuff without permission. Why would I use your compass anyway? I don’t like using your mathy stuff.”

“LIAR!” Ina’s fists tightened. “You once went through my underwear drawer without my permission, so who else would take my compass?!”

“IT WAS THAT ONE TIME-“

“AND ONE TIME MAKES A DIFFERENCE, ANATALIO!”

“LOOK, MY SPYGLASS FELL INTO YOUR DRAWER-“

“OH, AND I SUPPOSE YOUR SPYGLASS WAS ON _MY_ SIDE OF THE ROOM?!”

“I FOUND IT UNDER THAT ONE PAIR-“

“DON’T TALK ABOUT IT IN PUBLIC, YOU ASSHOLE!”

“Amigos, amigas,” Nathan had finally reached us, holding up his hands in a peacemaking gesture. And by that, I mean he had stepped in between them, held up his hands, and covered their mouths with his hands, effectively shutting them up. With a scolding tone, he said, “Now is not the time to be fighting about various frilly undergarments and shining glasses for spies. It is also not the time to be discussing a compass which may or may not be missing, no? Perhaps… said compass was right in your pocket all along?”

“I’ll kiss this bastard if it’s in-“ Ina reached into her pocket, grumbling, only to stop, her eyes widening. Arah raised an eyebrow, and soon, Ina pulled out a compass – the thing she had been looking for the entire time. “-here.”

“Now see, wasn’t that easy?” Nathan had a look of serendipity on his face. “Now, the two of you must kiss and make up to end this petty fight.”

“NO WAY!”

“FUCKING HELL!”

“Ah, ah! You _did_ say you would kiss him if it was there in your pocket!” Nathan waggled a finger around scoldingly, and Ina protested, saying, “I didn’t really mean that…!”

Arah pushed up her glasses. “Your word is bond, Ina.”

“… ugh. I hate you guys.” Nathan backed away, and Ina stepped forward, eyeing Dave quietly before outstretching her arms, inviting him in for a hug. Dave eyed the outstretched arms for a bit, looking very unsure at first, before grinning and scooping Ina up in a tight bear hug, the girl looking a bit strangled.

Arah placed a hand on Nathan’s shoulder and smiled at him gently. “You have made me proud, Nathan.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Nathan grinned back at her before reaching into his pocket and nibbling on _another_ chocolate bar. “That’s another fight resolved by Nathan and Arah, the Mediator duo! Hai-yaaaa!” He made a kung fu gesture at Juis, who finally collapsed on the ground out of fatigue. Juneth stopped hopping in place for one minute to tut and grab Juis’s arm, hoisting her arm over her shoulder and grumbling, “Stupid Juis… always getting in trouble… what _will_ she do without me…?” before going away, probably heading towards their room.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

To keep it short and sweet, Ina and Dave made up and now Dave was in the canteen with her. What they were doing, I had no idea. Juis and Juneth had gone back to the rooms, while Arah and Nathan were wandering around, searching for fights to mediate, probably.

Me? I was still in Maceda Building, checking out the rooms. Most of them really were just classrooms, without anything remarkably interesting in them. A classroom’s whiteboard had a drawing of Monocat wearing a hula skirt and holding a ukulele though, which made me snicker. There were three science rooms in the building, all of them aligned with each other, with one on each floor. The cabinets in said science buildings were filled with all sorts of preserved creatures, like butterflies and starfish and turtles and even _snakes_. A room on the fourth floor had a world map, just like the library, a room in Bordner, and in the room where Aiel was murdered. There was a building directly connected to Maceda, but the pathways were closed, so far. However, there were stairs going beyond the fourth floor of Maceda, near the pathway to the other building, which made me curious.

When I ascended, however, I didn’t expect to see a _fucking pool_.

“WAHOO!” Kyle was paddling around in the water, his jacket and shorts hanging on one of the chairs. He had apparently jumped in with what he was already wearing, which happened to be what could only be considered as a black skintight swimsuit with blue piping, sleeves that ended at his wrists, and shorts. In essence, it looked like those scuba diver outfits… minus the scuba gear. So this was what he wore underneath his jacket and shorts.

I crouched beside the pool as Kyle dove under and swam in my direction, surfacing with barely a ripple. Jeez, this guy could’ve been mistaken as a mermaid. “Having fun, Jatulan?”

“Yeah!” Kyle looked happier than he had been after the trial, treading water and grinning up at me. “The water’s fine, Marc! C’mon, join me!”

I shook my head, laughing. “I think I’ll pass. I don’t have trunks or anything.”

“Suit yourself! You’re passing up a real good opportunity to relax! Or should I say…” At this, Kyle’s eyes took on a mischievous glint. “Opperchtunaty?”

…

Oh no he _didn’t_.

“You fucking made a fish pun!” I couldn’t help but snort as Kyle laughed. Oddly enough, his laughter reminded me of a dolphin’s clicks… except of course he sounded human. But I imagine that, with a few changes in pitch and frequency, his laughter would be that of a dolphin’s. No, seriously. “That… that was terrible!”

The SHSL Swimmer winked. “I think making fish puns are gonna be my thing now. Monocat and Jenita have their cat puns, and I’ll have my fish puns! It’ll be perfect! You’ll see!” He winked again. “Or should I say, you’ll _sea_?”

“Stop, just stop man.” I laughed, looking up at our fake sky. The sun looked ready to set, and I hadn’t eaten lunch. Dinner was coming soon. “Aren’t you going down for dinner, yet?”

Kyle lingered for a bit, looking thoughtful. “… Actually… I think I won’t have dinner with all of you.”

“How come?”

“I don’t think I’d be able to show my face to Ana ever again.” Kyle murmured thoughtfully, leaning backward until he was floating on his back in the water. “I mean… I accused her of murder and nearly straight-up stabbed her in the chest during the trial.”

 _Well, yeah, there’s that…_ “But Ana’s a forgiving person! Hell, she couldn’t even forgive _herself_ when she hit you after the trial!”

“… I deserved that, really.” The Swimmer sounded a bit depressed as he kicked away from me, floating. “You go on ahead, Marc. I’ll have dinner in a while with you guys… maybe… maybe not…”

“…” I gave him a sympathetic look before I stood up, straightening out my jacket, and walking down the stairs to meet the others for dinner. Hopefully this time, there wouldn’t be any more murders.

But… that notebook I found just a while ago…

I stopped on the second floor of Maceda, lingering on the top of the steps. That notebook had the names of the people involved in the previous murders, and was almost in order. The writer had mentioned someone who went by the name of ‘Fab’, and said person was trying to teach them programming. How did they know the people who died, and how did they manage to list them in almost the exact order of when they died? Was it coincidence, or something else?

And then there was the title of the person’s mysterious project.

“Kepler Ronpa…” I mused, making a slow descent. What could the word ‘ronpa’ mean? Was it a word, even? Why was it specifically called ‘Kepler’ Ronpa? I mean, from what Ina told me on her former investigation of the library, our batch – all of us inside the school right now – were part of the ‘Kepler’ class, so did that mean that we were somehow involved in it…? And more importantly…

… Who was the author of that notebook?

I needed to ask Ina again for more information. But first, dinner.

**[INVESTIGATION OVER]**


	21. Valley of the Souls: (Ab)normal Days - Spirit's Window

**[03: VALLEY OF THE SOULS - (AB)NORMAL DAYS: SPIRIT'S WINDOW]**

It’s been three days since our investigation of the Maceda building. It was Ina who had noted the bridge that had mysteriously appeared, connecting the Main building with the new one on the third floor. When we asked Monocat about it, she said that it had been there the whole time and we didn’t notice it, but I kind of doubt that I’d be able to miss a green hamster tunnel-like bridge between two buildings. Regardless, it made traveling to and from Maceda easier from the upper floors.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and for once, I felt at ease inside our gilded birdcage. The attempts at murder seemed to be dying out, and for now, no one’s lives were in jeopardy, and we would be able to focus on more important matters.

Like that notebook I found in the staff room in Maceda.

Frowning, I turned towards the plush that still sat on my desk. The Ralts I had gotten from my first attempt at the Mono Mono Machine, plus the other Monocoins I had managed to gather from ‘getting on her good side’, as Monocat said, lay abandoned, waiting for the day I would pay attention to them again. Beside them was my laptop and headphones.

You can probably guess which ones I took.

Bringing up the chat function on my laptop, I checked to see who were awake or whose laptops were on. Only a few were really online – about two or three – while the others were just idle. Selecting ‘elegantSecretariat’, I initiated a chat.

luckyChild [LC] began pestering elegantSecretariat [ES]  
LC: Good morning!  
ES: Good morning Marc.   
LC: Soooo  
LC: How’s life?  
ES: Still the same as always, Marc.  
ES: Now tell me the real reason you messaged me at 6 in the morning.  
LC: wHAT  
LC: Noooooo  
LC: There aren’t any ulterior motives I swear  
LC: Nooooo  
ES: As Jenita would say...  
ES: *The secretary gives you a doubtful glare, pausing to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.*  
ES: Spill.  
LC: Okay uh first question  
LC: Can Monocat read pesterlogs  
ES: Yes.  
ES: But for some uncanny reason, she cannot access memos.  
ES: Eugene and I have tried opening a memo and talked about random things before asking Monocat if she read the memo.  
ES: She freaked out, literally speaking.  
ES: When we looked back at the memo, a huge wall of text saying that ‘headmistressMono [HM] was kicked out from the memo’ over and over greeted us.  
ES: She’s been trying to hack into the memo for three minutes, it seems.  
LC: Any luck on her part?  
ES: None.  
ES: We suspect that there is some outside interference going on if Monocat cannot access her own chat function’s memos.  
ES: It... isn’t a far off theory, actually.  
LC: Why?  
ES: We should transfer our conversation to a private memo.  
ES: With Eugene, preferably.  
ES: And a select few people, if you want.  
LC: Huh?  
ES: Hold on. I’ll set it up.  
  
CURRENT elegantSecretariat [CES] RIGHT NOW opened memo on board “Rainbow Central Station”  
  
CURRENT luckyChild [CLC] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CLC: Rainbow central station?  
CES: I thought it would divert attention from the contents.  
CURRENT sportyPresider [CSP] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CSP: okay I’m here Arah  
CSP: oh hey Marc  
CLC: Hello!  
CES: Did you invite anybody else, Marc?  
CLC: Um  
CURRENT heirTransparent [CHT] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CHT: there had better be a good reason for stopping my beauty sleep.  
CES: Oh my God.  
CES: You woke up Nahangel?  
CLC: Um  
CURRENT tiltillatingPastry [CTP] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CTP: uuuuhhhh...  
CSP: wow  
CES: MARC...  
CLC: UHHHHHH  
CURRENT skirtChaser [CSC] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CSC: What’s happening?  
CES: I don’t fucking believe this.  
CES: Marc Christopher Alelis, what possessed you to invite all of these people at 6 in the morning.  
CURRENT writKeeper [CWK] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CES: PAULA TOO?!  
CWK: problem?  
CES: No, not really with you.  
CWK: ok  
CURRENT delphinoSchism [CDS] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CES: WHY IS EVERYBODY AWAKE AT THIS HOUR.  
CES: I swear, I will ban the sorry ass of the next person who tries to join this memo.  
PAST painedDroid [PPD] 613 HOURS AGO responded to memo.  
 **CES banned  PPD from responding to memo.  
FUTURE painedDroid [FPD] 613 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
CES banned FPD from responding to memo.  
CURRENT painedDroid [CPD] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CES banned CPD from responding to memo.  
CWK: harsh much arah?  
CES: I am just so fucking sick of people making my work harder for me.  
CES: Why is Justine trying to get into this memo anyway?  
CES: Did you invite him like you invited EVERY OTHER PERSON IN THIS DAMN MEMO?!  
CLC: You know I’m actually really relieved to say no  
CES: Oh?  
CLC: Nope  
CLC: Never invited him  
CLC: Must’ve gone here on his own accord  
CDS: but there were three different justines trying to enter this memo  
CDS: erm  
CDS: past present and future justines???  
CDS: what???  
CHT: oh that’s a function of this chat function.  
CHT: i’ve talked to past me about random things before on a memo made for me.  
CSC: Gee, how self centered can you get, I wonder.  
CHT: anyway  
CHT: from what i understood from a future me  
CHT: you can’t spoil anything from the future to a past you.  
CHT: that’ll create a rip in time.  
CSP: do those actually exist Nahangel?  
CHT: possibly.  
CHT: i trust myself completely.  
CHT: besides he seemed a little down when i talked to him.  
CHT: i assume something happened that made him sad.  
CSC: Probably because your boyfriend died or something.   
CHT: oh that is IT.  
CHT banned CSC from responding to memo.  
CES: Hey!  
CES: I’m the only one allowed to ban people.  
CES: You unban him this instant.  
CES: Wait, I’ll unban him myself.  
CES unbanned CSC** from responding to memo.  
CSC: THANK YOU ARAH.  
CSC: At least there’s SOMEONE nice to me.  
CES: Are we allowed to go back to the main topic now?  
CES: PLEASE?  
CLC: Yeah Arah!  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CDS: whoa  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CES: This is exactly the thing I was talking about.  
CES: She can’t get in on memos.  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW attempted to enter memo, but was unable to.  
CHT: why?  
CES: That’s exactly what Eugene, Marc and I have been speculating on.  
CURRENT headmistressMono [CHM] RIGHT NOW has logged off.  
CES: Good.  
CES: She’s gone for now.  
CES: Probably to pop up in one of our rooms to pester us about the memo.  
CSC: HHHHOL YH SIT  
CSP: what  
CSC: SHE’S HERE  
CES: Like I said.  
CSC: N O H  GE T  AWAY  YOU S UDFULDSKFJ LKJ  
CWK: whoa  
CSC: FJIDS JDLKFJ I F UKCICN G S WE AR  
CSC: YOU WILL GIVE ME TH IS L AP TO P  BRBAI IRALKJFKLDSJFKLF  
CLC: uHM  
CTP: uhhhmmm... w-wilson could be in big trouble right now... ooh noooooOOOOO...  
CSC: Ugh, JESUS.  
CHT: you alright?  
CSC: Freaking bitch kitten wrestled with me then exploded.  
CSC: Course I’m not OKAY.  
CES: WHAT?!  
CSC: I’m kidding. I’m okay.  
CSC: I just had this weird spasm on the keyboard.  
CHT: for fuck’s sakes.  
CLC: You scared us!  
CWK: not the best idea  
CES: I am going to punch you in the face when breakfast comes along.  
CES: I swear.  
CSC: Ha... ha... ha...  
CES: Well, anyway, we’ve discussed that there is a possibility that outside interference is what’s preventing Monocat from entering the memo with her own account.  
CES: Right, Eugene?  
CSP: yeah  
CSP: it’s actually pretty convenient to have her as the only one getting knocked out of the memos  
CSP: but I’m still kind of at a loss as to what’s preventing her from barging in  
CLC: Well, maybe the outside world is trying to hack in and tell us things?  
CLC: It’s a possibility.  
CWK: well  
CWK: in any case they had better hurry up  
CWK: i don’t feel very comfortable here anymore  
CHT: don’t you have joshua’s corpse to keep you company?  
CES: NAHANGEL.  
CHT: what? it’s true.  
CWK: actually, no it isn’t  
CHT: ???  
CWK: joshua’s body isn’t in my room  
CWK: i’ve been sleeping alone  
CES: Interesting.  
CDS: guys  
CDS: im starving  
CDS: starving for food and swimming  
CDS: do i still need to be on this memo  
CDS: what time is it  
CSP: it’s 7 Kyle  
CSP: oh  
CSP: breakfast time right?  
CES: Ugh.  
CES: Well, at any rate, anything that has been discussed here should be kept between our little group and our little group only.  
CES: It _should_ have been only three people, but thanks to Marc here, the secret might get out.  
CLC: Hey, you asked me if I could invite anyone!  
CES: I didn’t mean invite a carpool.  
CES: But at any rate, we should all be heading to breakfast.  
CES: Off with you lot.  
CES banned CLC from responding to memo.  
CES banned CSP from responding to memo.  
CES banned CDS from responding to memo.  
CES banned CTP from responding to memo.  
CES banned CWK from responding to memo.  
CHT: arah?  
CES: Anything to say before we head out to breakfast, Nahangel?  
CHT: um.  
CES: Yes?  
CHT: it’s just that...  
CHT: do you really think there are people out there trying to get in?  
CHT: to talk to us?  
CES: I don’t see why it shouldn’t be a possibility.  
CES: We _are_ the nation’s hope and next generation.  
CHT: it’s just that...  
CHT: do you think my father is one of them?  
CES: I don’t see why he shouldn’t be one of the ones trying to get in.  
CES: You ARE the heir to the Gelua conglomerate, Nahangel.  
CHT: arah, cut the bullshit fullname thing.  
CHT: your mom’s worked for my dad before but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me casually.  
CES: Well, technically speaking, your father is my mother’s superior.  
CES: Linear-wise, that would make you my superior as well.  
CES: Despite the fact that I currently work for Eugene, you are still my former boss.  
CHT: oh bullshit!  
CHT: arah we’re friends, you can call me nahan or angel or even fucking CHANCE!  
CHT: please?  
CES: Well, alright.  
CES: Is that all, Nahan?  
CHT: well...  
CHT: you know how i have siblings right?  
CES: Yes.  
CHT: my big brother and my little sister.  
CHT: the only reason i’m the heir and not my brother is because he did something that made my father extremely angry.  
CES: I know this story well, Nahan.  
CES: Why are you telling this to me again, when people could be reading this right now?  
CES: And by that I mean our ‘classmates’.  
CHT: well...  
CHT: you know, my father told me that if anything ever happened to me, the role of heir would be passed onto my sister.  
CES: That’s a cruel move.  
CES: Even at her young age?  
CHT: she’s not that much younger than me.  
CES: Even so.  
CES: I’ve seen you struggle with your heir title, Nahan.  
CES: I’m quite certain your sister wouldn’t be able to handle it.  
CHT: yeah well...  
CHT: i’m just getting that sinking feeling he wouldn’t care if i was trapped here.  
CES: THAT is a negative thought that should be banished, Nahan.  
CES: Your father loves you.  
CES: I think so, anyway.  
CES: He’d be doing all that he could to get you out of this hell we call Despair Science High School.  
CHT: how would you know?  
CHT: you don’t see him the way i do everyday.  
CHT: for all you know he could be acting differently around others and wouldn’t be the person I see everyday.  
CES: Yes, perhaps.  
CES: But, er, I’m going to take a page from Marc’s book here and say that you should be a bit more optimistic.  
CES: I myself am going to hold onto the firm belief that your father is doing everything he can in his power as current leader of the Gelua conglomerate to save you.  
CES: I’m quite certain your mother is trying to get you out as well.  
CES: And although our other classmates will be missed by their families... I am still quite certain they are helping out as well.  
CES: So don’t fret.  
CHT: ...  
CHT: i miss my family.  
CHT: i miss my friends.  
CHT: i just wanna go home.  
CES: I know, Angel.  
CES: I know.  
CES: Now, get ready. The others might be worried.  
CHT: will anyone be able to read this memo?  
CHT: or, er, is anyone reading this memo right now?  
CES: I only allowed the memo to be viewed by the people who were invited here.  
CES: The others will not see this.  
CES: And once you are banned from responding to memo, you cannot see the contents after you’ve been banned.  
CES: At least, I think so.  
CHT: maybe they could see it, but they’re just not there anymore.  
CHT: are you going to delete this memo?  
CES: Possibly.  
CES: I’m suspicious that someone that nobody knows about is watching all of our memos.  
CHT: what gave you that idea?  
CES: A sinking feeling.  
CES: The one you get when you feel like you’re being watched, except at a much more intense level.  
CES: It’s not Monocat, that much I am sure of.  
CES: It’s someone else.  
CHT: who?  
CES: I’m not sure.  
CES: But anyway, we’ve delayed for too long already.  
CES banned  CHT  from responding to memo.  
CES closed the memo.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

When I arrived at the canteen, I immediately felt as if the temperature had dropped. The frigidity seemed to be centering around two people in particular: Ina and Dave, who were currently sitting at their respective seats, blatantly ignoring each other. How could I tell? Well, for one, they were acting as if there was nobody there. At least, that’s what I think. Second, like I said, the area around them seemed… colder. What used to be burning hot flames between them was simply… frozen now.

“What happened?” I asked a yawning Nathan, who shrugged before saying, “Something that I don’t think I could be able to fix. They’re gonna have to figure this one out on their own.”

“But what is it?” I persisted, sitting down.

The Gourmet shrugged again. “I walked in on them like this. Not a pretty picture. I dunno what happened.”

“They probably had a more intense fight than usual, y’know.” Aisley pointed out, heaping a lot of bacon onto her plate before pouring herself some juice. I could hear Monocat and Ana in the kitchen – the frequent ‘sorry’s and ‘meow’s spoke for themselves. “Maybe, just maybe, Dave did something incredibly unspeakable and that’s how they ended up like this.”

Ina twitched. Not a good sign. With a dismissing gesture, I told the Ornithologist, “We can talk about that later. For now, where are the others?”

“Mika and James aren’t here yet.” With a start, I suddenly realized that Justine had been there, nibbling on some grilled cheese sandwiches. The Attorney looked even surlier than usual, which was a bit of a surprise until I glanced over to the right and saw that Rosemary was sitting with Reymon, Daenna and Arvin at a separate table, chatting up a storm. The Therapist looked like she was blooming today, which is a positive thing to say, I think. I’m not very good at complimenting girls. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her emerald eyes were twinkling with glee while she gossiped with Daenna, the boys just sitting around and talking about probably random topics.

As the rest of the people who joined the memo came in, I couldn’t help but note that Arah and Nahangel were also absent at the moment. Were they okay? What were they doing? Did Monocat hold them up or something? Probably.

“Don’t. Touch me.” Ina said suddenly, making the atmosphere change again. I chanced a glance to the side, and saw that Dave had stood up, his hands resting on the table. Ina was glaring up at him, eyes as hard as sapphires. “You have no right to touch me.”

“I…” Dave sounded like he was about to say something remorseful before his eyes hardened. “Well, l-look who’s talking!” The Secret Agent snapped, scarlet eyes ablaze. Now that I thought of it, his eyes were a pretty brilliant shade of red, in contrast to the cool blue ones that belonged to Ina. It was brighter than Nahangel’s, at any rate, despite the heir being… what was the term? I think it was an albino. “Who started it, anyway?”

“You did!” Ina bit out. “And what do you have to say to that, Anatalio?”

Dave sniffed. “I… I’m not talking to you. I’m not going to dignify that with a proper response.”

The Mathematician sneered, which was very out of place on her little face. “What’s that, Anatalio? Don’t tell me you’re turning chicken! Oh, but that’s right, you _are_ a chicken. A chicken who doesn’t know how to fight with a _girl_. Bawkkk, baaaaawk!”

“Oh, that is _it!_ ” With a growl, in about six seconds, Dave had lunged forward at his roommate, giving her only a few minutes to react with a surprised squeak before the two landed on the ground, with Ina trapped between the floor and Dave’s body, hovering above her as he attempted to strangle her, his hands moving towards her throat.

Daenna looked distressed. “Oh, o-oh no, somebody stop them! Please, I implore you!”

“NnngrAAAH!” With a yell of her own, Ina pushed forward and flipped both of them over until it was her who was on top trying to strangle _him_. This repeated over and over for the two of them while the others became more and more distressed. Me? I was just really worried that one of them might actually kill each other.

Nathan took a sip from his cup. “Ah. I think I understand now.”

“What is their problem, then?” Shine asked, baffled at how the two were still at it. Dave now had Ina backed against a corner, the two currently locked into an intense staredown. “This is getting really out of hand.”

The Gourmet smiled wanly. “They’re frustrated. Dave is frustrated with Ina, as is Ina with Dave. With the prospect of a school of mutual killing over their heads, it’s hard not to imagine if you could just kill your roommate, especially at a time like this.” A crash sounded, and we all glanced at the kitchen to see Monocat running around, on fire, while Ana tried to spray her with a fire extinguisher. We just shrugged as Nathan continued. “I don’t know the exact specifics, but… this really is something they have to sort on their own. It’s extremely dangerous, but the only way.”

“How dangerous… is dangerous?” The Model asked tentatively.

Nathan stared at her seriously. “As serious as murder.”

“… Oh…” With a furrowed brow, Shine looked back at the two roommates, and I did so too, just in time to see both of them widen their eyes and stare at each other, as if in a new light. I… think they just realized the position they were in.

**_Oh, yeah, way to go, Captain Obvious._ **

Oh shush, you.

It was Dave who backed away first, a hand gripping his fedora and tipping it down in such a way that it hid his face from Ina, who was slowly standing up, albeit a bit shakily. Then, without another word, both of them darted as far away from each other as possible, with Dave exiting the canteen without another word just as Arah and Nahan entered, the latter looking back at him while the former was knocked down by Ina wrapping her arms around her.

As she stood up, Arah gave me a scrutinizing look, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was so _unnerving_ to see Arah’s eyes staring at me like I was some sort of… some sort of, well, _guilty_ guy, or something. I’ll get back to you on a better adjective because right now I’m being scared shitless.

“Hey, Nahan, what took you so long?” I blinked. Repeatedly. Bonn appeared to be holding Ana by the waist – effortlessly, might I add – while spraying Monocat with the fire extinguisher Ana was holding. Our ‘principal’ was meowing with protest while Ana was squirming, uncomfortable with the fact that she was being lifted a few inches off the floor by someone slightly shorter than her.

Nahangel shrugged, ruby eyes avoiding the gaze of his roommate. I raised an eyebrow as the Heir said, “I… I just had something to do, that’s all.”

“Well, if you say so, man.” Bonn gently placed the squirming Baker down before getting karate chopped in the face by Monocat, who was now berating him for spraying her with a fire extinguisher. “C’mon, Ana just finished whipping up a bunch of waffles with Monocat. We can get first dibs!”

“Sure.” Nahangel smiled, making a move to approach him, but not before Arah reached out and touched his shoulder, stopping him briefly, despite the fact that Ina still had her arms wrapped around her. The two looked at each other for a few moments, the Heir looking at the Secretary in a confused manner. With the smallest of smiles, Arah patted his shoulder reassuringly, and then retracted her hand, crossing her arms. Nahangel seemed to understand this gesture, because the albino smiled back before heading towards his roommate, who was currently ‘whoop’ing loudly in the kitchen.

As Arah took a seat (with Ina still in tow), I couldn’t help but ask her, “What was _that_ all about?”

“Oh… nothing of importance, Marc.” Although I couldn’t see it due to the light reflected on her glasses, I’m pretty sure Arah’s eyes were gazing off wistfully somewhere. Her lips were quirked up slightly. “Nahangel and I simply caught up with each other, that’s all.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After breakfast, I couldn’t help but wonder if Dave was alright. Ina had retreated to the safety of Arah and Aisley’s reassuring coos, while Juneth was acting as their bouncer, meaning that she basically threatened to beat up anybody who came near them.

What a group.

My eyes landed on the door with Dave and Ina’s pixel portraits on them, and, unsure as to whether or not the Secret Agent was there, I raised a hand, ready to knock, when suddenly, from out of nowhere, a voice asked, “What do you want?”

“GWAAH!” I yelped, turning around quickly, only to breathe a sigh of relief when I realized that it was Dave. “Oh, hey man. I was wondering where you were.”

“What do you want?” The boy repeated again, this time with a bit more force.

I sweated a little at the tone in his voice. Oh god. “Well… er… uh, I just wondered if… you wanted to talk about what happened between you and Ina… with… me…? B-but that’s only if you’re willing, I mean, ofcourseyoudon’tneedtotellmemanI’mjustreallycon-“

Dave pushed past me and opened the door to their room.

“-cerned.” I stared at him, then inside their room. This happened for a few more minutes before Dave finally asked, “Well… aren’t you coming in?”

“What? Why?”

“Well… you were asking me if I wanted to talk to you about it.”

Pink flitted across my cheeks. “Oh… uh… so, does this mean you _do_ want to talk about it? Cause I’mperfectlyfinewithyounottalkingaboutitImeanpersonalspaceandallthat-“

“Marc.” Dave tipped his hat, and I swear that he smiled behind it. “You’re rambling.”

“Sorry.” I felt really embarrassed as I entered the room, looking around. I relaxed once I realized that the atmosphere felt strangely enough like my own room’s atmosphere; not much was different, although the various graphs, mathematical equipment and papers scattered across the floor of one half of the room were a bit of a disgrace. Some of the papers were torn and ruined, however. The other half of the room contained a collection of spy gear hanging on the walls, and a file cabinet was sitting next to the dresser farthest from me.

“So this is your room, huh?” I mused before heading over to the bed, careful not to step on any of the papers strewn all over the floor. “Geez, what’s Ina working on that’s got all of this scattered on the floor?”

Dave took off his fedora, revealing the rest of his curly golden brown hair. Tossing it like a Frisbee, the hat landed near the edge of the dresser… only to fall off because he overestimated the distance. Shrugging, the Agent said, “She’s still trying to find a way to hack into Monocat’s systems, as far as I know. She’s got pretty good knowledge on computers.”

“That’s cool.” I mumbled, gazing at him. “So uh… what really happened back there…? What made both of you go all ‘fuck yeah I’m gonna fucking murder my asshole of a roommate for God knows what reason’?”

The boy sighed, taking a seat beside me. “It’s just… well, do you promise not to tell anyone?”

“Monocat can hear us, probably.” I pointed at the security camera near a corner of the room, and Dave snorted, flashing the camera the middle finger. “Please. It’s not even a scary thing anymore, having that crazy cat watching over most of your moves.”

I pressed on. “So… what were you going to tell me?”

“Uhm…” At this, the boy shifted, anxiously tugging on the collar of his jacket. He sounded so uncomfortable. “W-well… I think I can remember a little bit about… about the organization I worked for. And… it just so happens that…” He fell silent, unable to continue.

I didn’t let up. “It just so happens that…?”

“That… that Ina was involved in the organization… too…” Dave wasn’t looking at me, and quite frankly, I’m glad he wasn’t. I was still processing what he just said in my brain.

_Ina… was part… or was involved… in the organization Dave worked for before…? But… that would mean they’ve known each other before or… or something…_

**_Gee, you nerd, I can’t believe you’re this dense._ **

_Oh shush. Why are you back?_

**_I’ve always been here. I’ve just deemed that most of your conversations are shit, however, and thus, I did not bless you with my most marvelous appearances._ **

_Oh, ha ha. If you’re so marvelous, then try and explain this._

**_You know, Dave exists. He’s right there. You can fucking ASK him._ **

Oh, right.

I glanced at Dave, who was still avoiding my gaze, except this time, he was staring wistfully off somewhere. “I… remembered said organization after the second trial, actually… in my dreams… and it just so happened that Ina was there too…”

“I told her about it, but she didn’t believe me at first.” The Secret Agent, kicking off his shoes, moved until it was possible for him to draw up his knees to his chin. “She called me a liar, and… yeah. All those names she calls me all the time. I didn’t care, really; I knew I wasn’t hallucinating when I saw her in my dreams with some of the other organization members.”

I continued to listen as he added, “But then, I think I hit a sore spot then, because after that, I noticed that her graphs began changing. More complex plans were being formed while I watched from the bed. Ina had been moving to and fro, doodling all over her original plans with new ones that had much more depth to them, and… at one point, I swear I heard her mutter the name of the organization.”

“What was the name of the organization?” I asked, confused.

Dave looked around before lowering his voice. “They called the organization Hope’s Restoration. I heard Ina say it, right before we went to bed last night, and that was what kept me up all night. I couldn’t sleep; I was thinking about how she seemed to be remembering, how she probably knew already. But when I asked her this morning…”

“… she denied it again, didn’t she?” I inferred, crossing my arms.

The silence that ensued for the next few moments meant that Dave agreed with my statement. At least, I think so. “I pushed her too far, I think… saying that she was just trying to cover up her identity. That she didn’t need to in my presence, cause we were both part or at least involved with Hope’s Restoration. She called me… she called me so many names that morning that I just… snapped.”

“What do you mean, snapped?”

“I… I destroyed some of her plans.” Dave admitted, gesturing to the mess still on the ground. “I was just so frustrated that she wouldn’t ‘come clean’ that I decided to take it out on all of her ‘hard work’. When I stopped, however, I just… those were the worst moments in my life. I wanted to say sorry, I wanted to apologize, but she just… she just… ugh, I’m such a damn idiot!” With a frustrated groan, Dave turned around and flopped onto their bed, face buried in the sheets. “I should’ve said sorry the first time, hell, I shouldn’t even have _told_ her about Hope’s Restoration…!”

I patted his arm a bit awkwardly. “Hey man. Girls are pretty unpredictable. Maybe she did know about Hope’s Restoration, but she didn’t want to talk about it with you just yet. Is she comfortable enough with hanging around you?”

“… I don’t… know…”

“Well then, that means you haven’t really earned her trust yet.” I cautioned. “She’s fine coexisting with you in this room, which means she trusts you with her life, but she doesn’t trust you with her secrets just yet, if she has any, anyway. I don’t know what else to tell you, Dave, but if anything happens… um… I… I’m here for you, bro.”

Dave lifted his face from the sheets as I bit my lip, feeling my cheeks burn up. “… Are you really…?”

“Y-yeah! After all, what are best friends for?” I raised my fist a bit lamely, letting it stay there for a while, before Dave reached up with his own fist and bumped mine with his. A fistbump. “Listen, if you have any problems, you can come to me, okay? Or Reymon. That guy’s a mess, but he hangs around a Princess and a Therapist.”

Dave laughed, sitting up. “Yeah, I guess I could go to Reymon too. But… you know Marc…? I feel like I’ve known you for a long time.”

“Kinda weird, considering we’ve only really hung out just now and that time at Maceda for a few minutes.” I chuckled, and he did so too. This lasted for a few more minutes before he said, “C’mon, I’ll bring you to your room before Ina comes back. ‘S the least I could do for my new bro.”

I held up my hands to stop him. “Nah, it’s okay, I can see myself out. Besides, I’m gonna be checking out the others for a while.”

“Checking out the others?” Dave raised an eyebrow, and I sputtered, saying, “NOT THAT KIND OF CHECKING OUT! DUDE!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” The Secret Agent laughed heartily, wiping a tear away from his eye before saying, “Okay, guess I’ll see you around, man! Oh and… thanks man. Really. For listening to me.”

I tilted my head to the side a bit and smiled. “No problem, bro.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When I exited the room, the first thing I heard was an explosion coming from the Amadome.

My eyes widening, I ran over to the closest entrance to the Amadome, and was greeted by the scariest possible sight ever.

You know how the stage had a wall keeping it separate from one wall of the Main Building? Well, smack dab in the middle of said wall, Reymon was embedded in what looked like a crater. The Scientist looked really messed up, with a black eye and his left cheek bleeding. What was scarier, however, was the red laser light pointed smack dab in the middle of his forehead, kind of like those lasers that people use to make cats go crazy. In the center of the Amadome was Justine, his eyes glowing a harsh red, and his right hand balled up into a fist.

“Whoa, whoa, what the hell?! What’s going on?!” I yelled, running over to Justine. It was probably the most life-threatening thing I’ve ever done in my life, running over to a probably-psycho cyborg attorney. “Justine, what the hell did you do?!”

The cyborg lifted up his right arm, pulling up his sleeve, and, just like a gun, crosshairs popped up from a compartment in his arm. When he spoke, his voice sounded different. More… inhuman. **_“What I should have done the moment he mentioned my sister.”_**

“Reymon?!”

Oh god. Daenna was here. The Princess was staring with horror at the state her roommate was in before yelling, “Justine Asprah, you put that arm down this instant! I will not stand to have my companion mauled in such a gruesome way, especially by someone like you! Are you listening to me?! I am a **PRINCESS** , do you hear me?! PUT THAT ARM DOWN RIGHT NOW-“

“DAENNA!” Fortunately enough, Arvin, coming out of nowhere, had tackled the Princess to the ground, barely missing the beam that had been aimed for Daenna’s chest. The Basketball Player, making sure that Daenna had not been harmed, shouted, “Oi, what’s your problem, Asprah?! Trying to get yourself killed?!”

 ** _“Negatory. The Princess was not the intended target.”_** Justine turned the crosshairs on Reymon again, who had sunk to the stage, his cheek still bleeding. I could only watch with horror as the light on Reymon’s forehead became brighter. **_“Target locked.”_**

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF GINTAMA IS GOING ON HERE~?!”

 ** _“R-ros_ e?” **Justine seemed to falter, the light on Reymon’s head fading away, as Rosemary, Jenita, and, surprisingly enough, Mika, emerged from the path to Lover’s Lane, looking incredibly horrified at the scene that had thankfully enough not occurred. I watched as Daenna hurried over to the wounded Reymon, gesturing for Arvin to come and help out, which he did, as Rosemary stalked over to Justine, looking absolutely _terrifying_.

“What. Did. You. Do.” Rosemary drew out slowly, her smile absent. Then, with an angry voice, she screamed, “ _WHAT DID YOU DO TO REYMON?!”_

 **“I** -I…” Justine, to his credit, seemed ashamed, though at the same time, I swear I could hear confusion in his voice, like he didn’t know what he had been doing. “I-I just…”

Jenita, the ever loyal follower, meowed harshly, “You purratically murdpurred Mistpurr Evangelista ofur there, you silly robot! Why, you could have been EXECUTED, even, mrrowwwwr~! Have you finally gotten off your rocker, you lunatic attorney?”

“I-I…”

“What did Reymon ever do to _you_?!” Rosemary sounded like she was about to burst into tears, and quite frankly, she looked like it too. “He’s never been anything except nice to you, so why do you keep on antagonizing him? What’s the _point_?! From the moment I mentioned that Reymon was a little cute, you decided that he would be what? Some sort of enemy? Some sort of rival? Are you jealous or something? Do you _like_ me that way?”

Justine immediately retorted with a “NO! OF COURSE NOT!” to her question, but otherwise he didn’t say anything else. Who would, after a stunt like that? I watched as Rosemary snarled, “If you’re going to be like that all the time with him, then we might as well just… just… not be friends anymore!”

“Meowwww, learn to control your temper, Justine!” Jenita chastised before draping a sleeve over Rosemary’s shoulder. “Come now, Rosie, let’s go help Purrincess Pretty Pants and Cone Face get Mistpurr Reymon to the clinic.” And with that, the two roommates headed over to the stage, where Monocat had already popped up, ranting about the crater, probably, and how that was school property. Strangely enough, however, she didn’t approach Justine, who was now face to face with Mika. Some sort of invisible breeze blew in between the two of them, and I watched as Mika gave Justine the most heartbreaking look possible.

“… You know why I did it.” Justine managed to say, staring at Mika imploringly.

The girl shook her head. “But it does not justify your actions. I thought you were better than that, Justine.”

“You would’ve done so too.”

“No… no I wouldn’t have. And you know why?” The cyborg shook his head, clearly doubting that she wouldn’t have done it. The Dark Magician sighed, then said in a serious tone, “I wouldn’t have done it… because I wouldn’t have wanted my other friendships to suffer.”

“One bad turn deserves another, Justine.” Turning around, she started heading towards Reymon and the others, but not before looking at Justine one last time and saying, “As much of a ragehappy as I am, I know when to stop. You should learn too… before your suffering increases twentyfold.” And with that, she walked away, braids and skirt fluterring in the wind.

I looked at Justine, and saw that he had sunken to his knees, staring at the little group on the stage. I looked back at them, and saw that it was mainly Rosemary and Daenna trying to carry Reymon, with what I assumed was a little help from Mika, judging from the faintest of faint purple outlines on the two girls’ arms. As they carried him down, I watched as Rosemary’s eyes connected with Justine’s, and for a few seconds, the boy looked hopeful. However, she turned away, glaring straight ahead, and, without another word, they left the Amadome.

…

… Sometimes, I wish we entered this killing game as adults. Being a teenager had so much unnecessary drama.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**29/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	22. Valley of the Souls: (Ab)normal Days - Faith In The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want to see me ramble about kepler ronpa sometimes go to classycloudcuckoolanderclasso.tumblr.com
> 
> it's full of nerd stuff

**[03: VALLEY OF THE SOULS - (AB)NORMAL DAYS: FAITH IN THE TRUTH]**

Deciding that talking to Justine would probably get me a laser to the stomach while he was in a state like this, I headed out to the clinic, where Reymon was most likely being housed. And, sure enough, I found the Scientific Archer on one of the beds, his turtleneck being clutched by anxious-looking Rosemary, and his labcoat draped over the chair Arvin was currently sitting on. To his credit, the boy with the conical collar looked concerned for the guy who seemed to have captured the attention of his regal roommate, who was fussing over him while Jenita poked and prodded at his exposed torso, which had a gruesome looking bruise. Then again, it probably wasn’t just a bruise; Justine’s punch _did_ send him flying into a wall.

“Hey Marc.” Arvin waved halfheartedly to me, and I waved back, albeit a bit awkwardly, seeing as that Arvin and I weren’t really that close. I mean, I considered myself friends with everyone (even Charles), but I was closer to some than others.

Daenna didn’t even look away from Reymon. “It is both a pleasure and an embarrassment to have you here, Marc, seeing as that our Scientific Archer is currently in a state of physical discord with his internal organs.”

“Daenna, jeez, I just got a few ribs broken and my stomach will probably never function normally again.” Reymon gave me a smile as I peered down at him lying on the bed, looking quite alright for someone who just got mostly beat up by a cyborg. The black eye wasn’t looking too good (in fact it looked downright _horrible_ ), but other than that – and the scar on his face that was now bandaged up – he looked quite okay.

“So Justine punched you in the face too?” **_No duh, Holmes. Way to be glaringly obvious. The black eye TOTALLY didn’t give it away._**

Reymon smiled reassuringly, wincing as Jenita continued to poke and prod at his now bare torso. He shifted a little on the bed before replying, “Well, yeah, but that was with his human arm. I could tell; if he hit me with metal I wouldn’t be able to see at all through this eye. I didn’t expect it to hit so hard though, to be honest. He punched me in the stomach afterwards.”

“I kind of saw that happen, yeah.”

“It shouldn’t have made a dent in you!” Rosemary protested, shifting closer to Reymon’s head, the grip on his turtleneck getting a little more dangerous. “Let’s be honest, Justine’s a _pathetic_ puncher with his human arm, so why’d you get a black eye from something like that~?!”

Reymon was about to reach out to pat Rosemary’s hand when Jenita slapped his hand away, chastising him about moving while she was examining him, so the guy settled for saying, “I was caught off guard, Rose. I mean, the guy must have had his reasons, right?”

“That still doesn’t give him the right to PUNCH YOU INTO A FUCKING WALL!” The Therapist half-screeched, almost tugging at her hair in frustration. Her ponytail seemed to react to her mood as she continued, “Monocat’s going to kill all of us when she sees the ruined wall!”

Jenita murmured absently, brushing a sleeve against a particularly dark bruise near Reymon’s stomach, “Mono-sensei purrobably already knows, you know? She _could_ kill us all, but if she kills us, that would ruin her fun with us killing each other. I have a purretty good feeling that we’re clean.”

“Well, yes, but…” Rosemary still looked unsure, clutching at Reymon’s turtleneck again like a thirsty man to a full canteen. “But… why would Justine… why would Justine even punch you…?”

“I think I know.” I blinked, only noticing just now that Mika had been standing nearby the whole time, remaining silent until the time was right. At least, I _think_ that was what she was intending to do. Quite frankly, who _would_ have noticed her, standing by the doorway?

The Dark Magician crossed her arms, staring down at the floor as she continued, “I don’t think it’s my place to explain his actions to you, however. I’m just his roommate, and, erm, well…” At this pink momentarily flitted across her face. “… I suppose you could also call me his confidante at times… and well, we have… a dysfunctional ‘friendship’… but that’s beside the point!”

Daenna looked quite unsettled. “Perhaps it would be best if you shared this information when he allows you to share it. You are free to keep the knowledge to yourself.”

“What?! Don’t you want to know why he punched Reymon when he was innocent?!” Rosemary protested, glaring at the SHSL Princess with blazing emerald eyes.

Daenna’s own forest green eyes were ice cold as she stared back at Rosemary. “I just think that ruining Justine’s relationships with the rest of us wouldn’t be a good idea. You should try putting your mind to work sometimes, Obnial, or it’ll rot in that empty pumpkin shell you call a head.”

“Why, you fucking-“ Before Rosemary could start a fight, Reymon stepped in, saying, “Hey, uh… I’m actually a little okay, you two. Justine has his reasons for punching me, and I respect that.”

“His reasons were shit.” Mika deadpanned before any of us could say anything. “But who am I to talk about his devastating circle of friends? I’m going out to hang out with Aisley.” And with that, the Dark Magician left the room, leaving an unsettling air of doubt hanging around all of us.

Jenita paused, her hand most likely under the sleeve that was currently draped above a certain portion of Reymon’s torso. “Mrrowr… you didn’t break any of your ribs, surprisingly, but your digestive system is gonna be waaaay outta whack for a while! I recommend requesting Monocat fur a special diet!”

“How would you know without dissecting the guy?” Arvin asked pointedly.

The Fangirl smiled with a dreamy look on her face. “I’ve never told anypawdy this but… if I wasn’t going to be the Fangirl, I was to be an Army Doctor! I studied up a lot on the human anatomy and possible wounds inflicted on the battlefield, and getting sucker punched in the gut is one of them!”

“That’s not even a wound, that’s a huge bruise.” The Basketball Star interjected.

The girl shrugged. “I studied it anyway! You could’ve gotten his when some stupid teammate hit you in the stomach with a nuke, right?”

“Mmhmm… yyeaaaaah, I think I’ll go now.” I turned back to the door, but not before looking back and saying, “Um… Mon?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you in your right state of mind?”

“Yes, why?”

“Uh…” How do I word this without offending anybody… “Are you forgiving Justine for this?”

Reymon looked thoughtful. “Actually… yeah. I am gonna forgive the guy.”

“WHAT?!”

“WHAT THE HEAVENS?!”

“WHAT THE HELL MAN?” I had to cover my ears at their cries of indignation and disbelief at his decided course of action. It was Arvin who spoke out first, however, demanding, “The guy almost killed you, and you’re just gonna _forgive_ him?!”

“He could have taken your life away!” Daenna’s fingers were running worriedly through her loose ponytail, draped over her shoulder. “And a trial would have happened and we would have lost another friend too!”

“Reymon, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…” Rosemary grabbed his head in her hands and yelled at his face, “ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!”

The blue haired boy’s lips curled up into a smile. “I like to think of myself as a mad scientist, yes. But I do believe in the fact that everyone has a reason for doing something and…” At this, he looked at me and smiled. “… I believe Justine’s reasons were very important to him and his morals. I respect that, and I forgive him for that.” At this, he looked away, however. “… I just hope he forgives himself for making you angry, Rose. I could hear your yelling.”

“… Well, he deserved it.” Rosemary sniffed haughtily, but I could tell that she was lying through her teeth. Did that mean that she _didn’t_ mean that she didn’t want to be friends with Justine anymore? I could probably ask Jenita later, but for now, I had to catch up to Mika and figure out the whole mess behind _this_ one.

With a wave, I exited the clinic and looked around, thankfully spotting Mika’s braids whisking around a corner. Thank God for their impossible length. But anyway, as I chased after her, I passed by a confused looking Juneth, who decided to run after, then beside me, asking, “Heeeey, whatchu up to today, Marc?”

“Can’t-“ I kept my eyes trained on the path Mika had taken. “Talk right now-“ I turned left and went up the stairs, Juneth jogging after me. “Chasing Mika to-“ I went through the little passageway connecting the Main Building to the canteen. “Ask her questions- waaaaagh!”

I bumped into the exact same person I was chasing, knocking her down and landing on top of her legs. Not a very pleasant experience, I can tell you. With a yell, the girl managed to kick me in the neck before standing up, brushing herself off airily. Juneth looked like she was holding back a snicker as I stood up, mourning the pain in my tonsils.

“What the hell was that for, Idiot Hair?” Mika asked irritably, crossing her arms and waiting for my answer. I sweated nervously at the look her eyes were giving me – good GOD they gave me the creeps – before answering in a stutter, “W-w-well, I-I-“

“He was gonna ask you some questions!” Juneth supplied helpfully, adjusting her glasses in such a Charles-like way that I had to double take to realize that it wasn’t Charles doing it. “I just tagged along to see what all his running was for.”

Mika raised an eyebrow. “… Well?”

“U-uhm, w-well you see, I-I-“ **_You idiot, you’re blabbering again. Can’t you calm down for at least one minute and NOT embarrass the both of us? Ugh, you’re pathetic._** “I-I was wondering what the deal with J-Justine was about, that’s all! I-I mean-“

Juneth suddenly looked interested. “What happened with Asprah?”

“He punched Reymon into a wall.” The Dark Magician told her curtly. “He’s in the clinic, if you’re concerned. Reymon, I mean.” The Escape Artist’s eyes widened considerably, and with a hasty wave, she was gone, leaving me with Mika, who turned her gaze back to me. I sweated bullets as she said, “Why are you so concerned for Justine?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I mean, what redeeming qualities did you actually find in… in that s- that guy?” Mika looked like she had been about to say something else, but had swapped her words at the last minute. I was briefly reminded of the fact that Mika was really, really _tall_ for a girl, when she stood up straight, at least. She was usually just a little bit slouched, so nobody really saw her at her real height often. “You’ve been befriending everyone, even him.”

“Who, me?” I asked, confused. “Why, is that a bad thing?”

The girl bit her lip. “W-well… no, I guess, but… why…?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“I mean, why bother befriending _everybody_? You’re not the Super High School Level Friend, and I sure as hell know you’re no Peacemaker.”

“Well…” My hands went behind my back as I rocked back and forth on my feet, looking thoughtful for a moment. At least, I hoped I looked thoughtful – for all I knew I looked constipated. But anyway, I thought for a moment before answering, “Well… I mean, we’re all friends, aren’t we? One big class of thirty seven?”

Mika didn’t speak, so I took that as a sign to continue. “Some of us are dead, but that doesn’t mean we can just leave the rest to die as well. I… well, I guess you could say Aiel _is_ my inspiration for befriending everyone here,” At this, I chuckled. “But you know what? I think that’s a good thing. If friendship binding us together is what it takes to prevent murders from happening, then so be it.”

“You’re… brutally optimistic.” The girl drew out, apparently having nothing else to say. She looked embarrassed to have said that, however, judging from the mad onset of red on her cheeks. I couldn’t help it; I laughed. She groaned, the red on her face darkening further. “Don’t laugh at me! You _are_ brutally optimistic!”

“That’s not even brutal optimism,” I pointed out, still laughing. “But sure, whatever you say, Mika!”

**_Uh, numbskull, aren’t you forgetting something?_ **

… What?

**_ASK HER ABOUT JUSTINE YOU KNIFEHEAD!_ **

“So uh… hey, like I asked before…” I twiddled my fingers nervously. “… what’s up with Justine, and why’d he punch Reymon like that? And uh, I heard him mention a sister too. So uh, don’t hold out on me about that… b-but that’s only if he mentioned anything of the sort to you, hahahaha…”

For once, Mika actually looked a bit pacified. Painted black lips curled up into the smallest of smiles as she said, “Well, I promised him I wouldn’t tell every other Jane and John I saw, you know. And, you _do_ fit the ‘John’ title to a T, Marc.”

“At least tell me a little?”

“… Well, have you ever heard of ‘Big Brother Instinct?’”

“Huh?”

Mika twirled a lock of hair between her fingers. “A big brother’s instinct to protect their little sisters. I suppose you can guess what’s going on right now.”

“I… think so…?” I shrugged helplessly. I _did_ get the general gist of what she was saying, but… “Justine’s shorter than Rosemary though. How is _he_ the older ‘brother’ in this… erm, would it be considered a relationship, even?”

She nodded. “Justine’s been having the wrong ideas about Reymon for days now. I keep telling him that he’s not what he thinks he is, but I think that somebody’s feeding him the idea that Reymon’s out to… er, pardon the expression, but…” By this point, I swear Mika’s cheeks flushed a little. “… I think that somebody’s feeding him the idea that Reymon’s out to get into all the girls’ pants. Not that Rosemary’s wearing any, anyway; she wears stockings.”

“That’s…” **_Wow. That boy is fucked up._** “… Wow. I don’t really have anything else to say about this. Just… WOW.”

Mika nodded, before glancing at something behind me and saying, “I think I’ve told you enough for now, Marc. Right now, I need to be somewhere.”

“With James, right?” I asked a bit too smugly for my liking. Damn, where did that come from all of a sudden?

Mika flushed a bright red before flashing me the middle finger. “Get out of my sight before I drown you in the pool, Alelis.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After that ‘informative’ talk with Mika, I jogged off, with her heading into the canteen, presumably to hunt for James, while I made my way up the stairs of Maceda. Oh, the gruesome pain one experiences while climbing the stairs in AxSci. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even my worst enemies. Stairs are evil. EVIL, I TELL YOU. A gateway to hell lives in each and every stair and if you’re not careful you’ll fall into one, because you’ll be too tired to care as to whether or not you fall into the lap of the head honcho down there. HELL, MAYBE YOU’RE GOING TO JUST LOSE IT ON SOME STAIRS BECAUSE THEY HAVE INSANITY INDUCERS IN IT. YES, THAT’S IT.

… Er- _hem_. Sorry about that.

Anyway, upon reaching the third floor, I made my way through the hamster tunnel connecting Maceda to the Main Building, and turned left, towards the library, where I, surprisingly enough, found Ina amongst the books, her brow furrowed as she continued to thumb through a really thick book, unaware that I was there. With a shrug, I approached her, pulling out a chair next to her and taking a seat, waiting for her to notice my presence.

…

…

Ten minutes later, I realized that Ina really was devouring the book to no end, so I coughed before saying, “Uh, hi, Ina.”

“Huh? Oh, hi, Marc.” Ina’s eyes finally lifted from her book to look at me. Now that I thought about it, Ina’s eyes were a very particular shade of blue. James’s eyes were a dark midnight blue, for the most part, while Jenita’s one blue eye looked unrealistically blue. Hunny’s were Prussian blue, and Arah’s were crystal blue. Ina’s, however, were a few shades short of James’s kind of dark blue. If I were to describe it the way people in love would, her eyes were literally like sapphires, with their particular blueness. But I digress. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“About ten minutes, give or take. What’s that you’re reading?”

“Oh, this old thing?” Ina gestured to the thick book. “I found this in the near back, fallen behind a bookshelf. It’s one of those ‘forgotten books’; books who fall out of the shelf and never see the light of day again. It’s fascinating.”

“How so?”

“Well…” Ina gestured for me to look at the book’s contents, and I moved closer to peer at it, only to gape. Apparently, the page was an info book on the students, and the one she was currently reading had Arvin’s picture on it. “It’s some sort of info thing for students. Arvin’s was the first one I saw whose name I knew.”

I scanned the two pages quietly, reading.

_NAME: CUEVAS, Arvin  
SECTION: 8-Kepler  
ADVISER: Mr. _______ _ (for some reason, this part was blacked out)  
 _TITLE: Super High School Level Basketball Player_  
DESCRIPTION: A basketball protégé from one of the more obscure cities in the Philippines, he is well-known for his signature move in basketball, the Drive Around The Cones maneuver.

Fairly stereotypical information. I found a similar entry online, on Arvin’s wiki page. However, when I glanced at the additional information, I gaped, for I had seen something plastered on the lower part of the second page; a picture of Arfel, Arvin and Shanayah, all hanging out together. To be specific, Arfel was almost out of the picture, being knocked out by a heart barrette presumably from Shanayah, who was posed in such a manner that it looked like she was throwing something at Arfel – since he was directly in front of her. Arvin looked like he was going to collapse from laughter. Something typical, actually, from what I know of them, but the thing is… they were in school uniforms.

Ironed white polo shirts over white shirts and midnight blue slacks for the boys, the polos coming with a badge that mirrored the insignia I so often saw around the halls of AxSci: the school’s emblem. Shanayah, on the other hand, was wearing a pleated navy blue skirt and a white blouse with a sailor’s collar and a blue tie. This meant that Arvin’s face wasn’t being obscured by his tall collar, so I could see the absolutely heart-meltingly adorable smile that the Basketball Player had. Well, to me it was heart-meltingly adorable because I could practically _feel_ the genuineness of said smile radiating from the photo. It was really different from the Arvin that I wasn’t really close to right now – there were leagues of difference between the two.

Ina noted, “I’ve been debating on taking the photo right now and keeping it in a place where Monocat wouldn’t find it, but it seems to be permanently glued to the page, so I can’t really rip it out without ripping out the page behind it too.”

I flipped the page, finding that the next pages were depicting an ‘ALEMANY, John Erick’. Since I didn’t really know the guy, I turned the page again, and was greeted with the grinning face of Dave Anatalio. Apparently it wasn’t alphabetized. With a smile, I read the contents.

_NAME: ANATALIO, Dave  
SECTION: 8-Kepler  
ADVISER: Mr. _______ _ (the part was blacked out again)  
 _TITLE: Super High School Level Secret Agent_  
DESCRIPTION: A member of the mysterious organization called Hope’s Restoration. It is still unknown as to how his talents and affiliations will affect his studies in Axiom Science, but he is monitored constantly by a homing device on his hat.

I looked towards the photo on the lower right side, and I gaped, noticing that the picture for Dave’s pair of pages only had two people in the photo – him and Ina. They too, were in uniforms, but Dave was still wearing his hat, with an arm draped over Ina’s shoulder, and a cheeky expression on his face. Ina in the picture had slightly shorter hair, but other than that, seemed perfectly identical to the Ina sitting near me right now. The expression on her face was that of a certain kind of endeared annoyance that made you feel as if she was only pretending to be annoyed at someone – in this case, Dave.

Ina was quiet as I probed, “Do you remember taking this photo, Ina?”

“…”

“Ina, I asked you a valid question.”

“No, I don’t.” Her tone was clipped as she flipped the pages. Or at least, _attempted_ to. I kept my hand on Dave’s page, determined. With a piercing look, Ina said, “Marc, it’s rude to keep your hand on a page that a person doesn’t want to read.”

“What’s going on between you and Dave?” I countered, narrowing my eyes. “I talked to the guy a while ago, and he told me everything that happened.”

“So why are you asking me what’s going on, then?”

“I want to know everything from your point of view.” I told her seriously, placing my other hand on top of one of hers. Ina wasn’t meeting my gaze. “Ina… do you know anything about the organization… Hope’s Restoration…?”

“…”

“ANSWER ME!” I wasn’t normally this demanding. Really, I wasn’t. But really, I was just sick of all this unnecessary drama between everyone. Next thing I know, I’ll be seeing drama between James and Mika next. But I digress. “Ina, you can tell me anything. I’m not one to share secrets if you entrust them to me.” **_That’s a lie and you know it. Sooner or later you’re going to spill it to someone else and-_** “Okay, well, maybe I’ll spill if prodded enough, but… I’m here to listen.”

Ina’s eyes wouldn’t meet mine. “If you don’t want to talk about Hope’s Restoration, then that’s okay. But at least tell me the issue you have with Dave… if it’s not related to ‘that organization’. I need to know what my best friend needs to change in his life.”

“Since when have the two of you been best friends? I haven’t seen you interact much.” Ina scoffed weakly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

I smiled a little. “Well… we only officially became best friends recently, but… it feels like I’ve been his best bro forever, you know?” By this point, Ina was looking at me, trying to fight the curiosity threatening to make its appearance on her face. “When I finally talked to your roommate, Ina, as in a ‘heart to heart’… I knew then and there that I had found someone better than a friend.”

“A close friend?”

“A _best_ friend.” I corrected, my smile widening at this. “Ina, I know I haven’t talked to most of you a lot, and I know we all just technically met and got trapped in a school together, but for some reason, I… I _know_ that all of you are worth talking to. My gut keeps telling me that I’ve seen you somewhere before – no, and I don’t mean just the media – and quite frankly I trust my gut because it’s never been wrong before.” I patted the general area where I _assumed_ my gut was, because guts technically constituted of insides. But I digress.

“Exactly how many times has your gut told you this?”

“… Once.”

Ina giggled, and then sighed, looking wistfully away. “… I do know… about Hope’s Restoration.”

“Hm?”

“Hope’s Restoration. Otherwise known as The Virtues of Hope.” The Mathematician looked solemn, a hand moving to flip the book back to Dave’s pages and tracing the photo of her and Dave on it. “An organization meant to instill within youths the ‘virtues of hope’. I myself was part of the ‘Faith’ group. Dave was there too, but he was… a new recruit, so to say. He wasn’t known as the Super High School Level Secret Agent yet back then.”

I listened patiently as Ina continued. “Back then… I’ve already been hearing rumors about a group rebelling against the values that Hope’s Restoration taught and promoting what they liked to call the ‘Virtues of Despair’. I didn’t pay much attention to it myself, but when Dave began escalating up the ranks and when I soon became his ‘partner’… we were assigned to that particular mission: investigate the ‘Children of Despair’ rumor thoroughly.”

“I’m guessing the higher-ups weren’t pleased with their existence? Did they exist at all?”

“Oh, they did.” Ina replied grimly. “I can’t remember their names and appearances, but they _did_ exist. Once Dave picked up tidbits about them around the others, I compiled the data and attempted to match them to all the profiles on the database. I normally didn’t have access back then to the personal files of each and every one of us, but you know; figuring out the password was a snap for both Dave and me.” A finger lightly grazed the words ‘Hope’s Restoration’ on Dave’s pages. “I soon matched the profiles to five individuals, and with that information in tow, I set out to deliver the data to the superiors. But… Dave had decided to intercept the five.”

“Why?”

“I’ll get to that. The moment I delivered the names, the superiors called for them, but they were all long gone… except for one. That one – I am quite sure it was a he – was brought in for questioning, but he gave no responses.” At this, Ina paused. “Well, actually, now that I think about it, he looked quite odd as well. His skin had been paper white, quite unlike the picture I saw in his files, and there were these weird tattoos all over his face and neck, and hands too! But anyway, once they realized he wouldn’t talk, they kept him under quarantine while the rest of us were sent out to find the other four. I was tasked to remain at headquarters while Dave was on the field, and…” Ina stopped for a moment. “… I really didn’t like that.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why? I thought you would’ve wanted to be as far away from Dave as possible.”

“But that’s just it. I… I remember how I felt back then. I felt angry at the superiors for keeping me away from Dave’s side then… I was scared, terrified for Dave’s safety.” Sapphire blue flashed, and I swear, I almost thought she was on the verge of crying. “What if the so called ‘Children of Despair’ turned him onto their side? The side that went against the organization? I mean, I could see for myself that the organization had… _questionable_ methods…” I raised an eyebrow at this, but she didn’t clarify. “… but the values they taught were good. If Dave ever turned to their side, I… I remember that I felt that I wouldn’t know what I would do. To be honest… it was Dave’s consistently calm and joking demeanor that kept me sane during my time in the organization, so the moment Dave came back – battered, but otherwise safe – I resigned from Hope’s Restoration.”

“Why? You said so yourself that they taught good values.”

“I couldn’t bear to see Dave being sent on that kind of mission again. He came back with one of the Despair children – the one who insisted on being called ‘The Virtue of Death’ – then, saying that the other three were already long gone and far away from our current place. I… I practically sobbed all over him back then.” Ina’s lips quirked up into a small smile, but it was a sad sort of smile. “That’s what hardened my resolve to leave, but Dave… he wanted to stay. He liked the thrill of the organization, and decided to stay. But he promised me then… I remember…” She touched the pi symbol on her shirt. “He promised that he’d watch out for me, even though I wasn’t part of Hope’s Restoration anymore. For as long as mathematicians kept adding numbers to pi… he would watch over me like the sun in the sky. He was really dramatic then, I remember…”

I really didn’t know what to say. “So… how does this relate to your current issue with Dave?”

“… He… he made me confused with myself, to be honest.” Ina tugged on her sleeves sadly. “I… I’m mad that he brought up memories of Hope’s Restoration, because it brought about a slew of mixed emotions that I had all but forgotten about. But I’m also _not_ mad at him for that because it made me remember how I felt when… when I thought that I had lost him.”

“You lost me there.”

“I know.” Ina’s smile seemed slightly happier now. “And that’s just it. Dave Anatalio makes me feel so many different things, that I… that I can’t seem to understand if I’m feeling attracted to him romantically, maternally, platonically… or if I’m simply drawn to idiots wearing silly hats.” She stared at the picture again. “It was Dave who brought back the bad memories I had of Hope’s Restoration, which clouded my thoughts, but it was also him who made me remember that yes, I _did_ spend time with him. It makes me wonder if he remembers things as vividly as I do.”

“No, he doesn’t.” I confirmed, shaking my head. “I could tell that all he remembered was that you two were working together.”

“… I see…” Ina looked pacified. “… I still can’t remember why I was classified under ‘Faith’ when I clearly didn’t believe that Dave was going to come back in one piece, and the fact that I left the organization… probably says something about my faith in it.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

“You got that verse from the Bible.”

“Actually, from Veggie Tales.” At the look she gave me, I raised my hands up in defense. “Hey, it’s educational! But anyway… you were classified into Faith for a reason, I think. Either you were born for the title of a Faith member… or it was a title you had to work to get to.”

“… Sorry, but you lost me this time.”

I grinned. “Sometimes people are given things to challenge them. And sometimes those things are so drastically different from what the person is used to that they are quite certain they don’t deserve them and are unable to reach the thing. But… maybe that’s just it. Maybe the thing they gave you was what they predicted you would become in the future. Like… you grow into the thing you claimed you wouldn’t be able to become.”

“That’s pretty deep, Marc.” Ina laughed. “Are you pulling all of this out of thin air?”

“Partially.” I admitted, feeling heat in my cheeks. “But hey, give me credit. If I had the chance I would’ve been the Super High School Level Motivational Speaker.”

“Are you serious?”

“No, I’m Marc.”

“Don’t pull those jokes on me, Alelis!” Ina whacked me with one of the thinner books nearby, and I winced a little before laughing. Soon, Ina began laughing with me as well, until we were both laughing hysterically with and at each other, all thoughts of the organization and Dave gone for the moment. It was only when Monocat showed up on the screen nearby **(“Shhhh! You peopawl should really go laugh somewhere else, you know! This is a library!”)** that we stopped, Ina turning back to the book.

“So… are you going to keep reading the book?” I asked, stuffing my hands into my pockets.

Ina closed the book. “… I might. Where’s Monocat? I want to borrow this book for a while.”

“Over here, dearie!”

I turned to the desk near the center of the library, and sure enough, a Monocat was sitting there, wearing a monocle and holding a stamp and library cards. Skeptically, I walked over there with Ina, who was clutching the book to her like a lifeline, as Monocat asked, “What book will you be borrowing today, my purretties?”

“This one, please?” Ina dropped the book on the counter.

Monocat examined the cover. “Mrrowwwr, I remembpurr this book. I have a copy just like it in my office. Shame that my copy has some ripped pages. Be careful with this one or I’ll have you executed; it seems to be in furly good condition, nya!” With relish, Monocat stamped a library card and handed it to Ina. “Purretend this one’s yours fur now, okay? See ya!” And with that, Monocat jumped under the desk and disappeared.

“I’m actually surprised she let you borrow this one.” I commented as we walked out of the library. “It seems like it’s got info that shouldn’t be in our hands, y’know?”

Ina smiled cattily. “That’s a good thing. Perhaps Monocat overlooked some things and thus deemed this book safe. I’ll read it whenever I can, and tell you what I find, alright?”

“Why me and not Dave?”

“…” Ina looked away again. “… I still haven’t sorted out how I feel about him now that I know we were partners in an organization. But… I know I can trust you. That’s why I’m going to tell you instead.”

I held a hand to my heart. “Ina, I’m touched. I can’t believe your mathematician heart has space for me.”

“Oh shush you.” Ina whacked my arm with the book, and I stumbled. Good _God_ that thing was heavy. “Oops, sorry.”

“It’s okay. So uh… guess I’ll be seeing you around?” I grinned, but not before someone unwanted started talking again.

**_You’re forgetting something._ **

_What is it NOW?_

**_Does ‘Monocat stealing away a notebook’ bring anything to mind?_ **

_What are you- OH._

“Oh, wait, before I forget!” Ina stared up at me curiously as I asked, “You told me we were all part of the ‘Kepler’ class, right?”

“… Yes…?”

“Well uh…” I scratched the back of my head. “I found something in a notebook that Monocat took away from me, and it was talking about something called ‘Kepler Ronpa’. Did you find anything about it?”

Ina shook her head, puzzled. “No, sorry. I don’t think I did. That’s really strange. What does ‘ronpa’ even mean, anyway?”

“That’s what I was asking myself!” I exclaimed. “But anyway, if you find anything… could you tell Arah and Eugene? Or me?”

“Why them?” She raised an eyebrow.

I coughed. “Well… Eugene’s literally the only person we can still depend on the way we depended on Dara. And Arah’s his secretary.

“That doesn’t justify it. I’ll give the information I find to you.”

“… Fine.” I relented, crossing my arms. “But… just so you know, they can be trusted. I trust them a whole lot.”

“Oh, I trust them. But… not as much as I trust you, Marc.” Ina gave me a heartwarming smile. “Thank you for listening to me earlier. I think I rambled too much.”

I shook my head before patting her head. “No, you didn’t. It’s okay though; at least you got most of it out in the open.”

“You… won’t be telling Dave about it, will you?”

“… Do you want me to tell him?”

“… Not right now.”

“Then I won’t.” I said decisively. “I’m not gonna be the first one to break trust.”

“ _That_ would have been Aiel, from what I’ve seen.”

“Oh, now _that_ was a low blow.”

“I’m sorry.”

With a chuckle, I ruffled her hair, and she protested, dropping the book and attempting to fix her hair. “It’s okay. I understand.”

“… Don’t die, okay?” Ina said once she fixed up her hair.

“What made you say that all of a sudden?”

“… Nothing.” With a smile, she turned around and headed towards the hamster tunnel to Maceda, but not before pausing and saying, “… I just think that you would’ve made a better Super High School Level Hopeful Friend than Good Luck.” And with that, she left.

I peered outside. The sun was setting again.

Another day inside the school of mutual killing has passed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**29/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**


	23. Valley of the Souls: (Ab)normal Days - The Difference Between Life And Death

**[03: VALLEY OF THE SOULS - (AB)NORMAL DAYS: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH]**

When I opened my eyes the next day, a pair of fierce golden ones stared back at me.

I blinked, then, in the most disgraceful manner possible, I screamed like a little bitch, drawing the covers up above my head. However, it remained quiet, so I slowly peeked out again to see who exactly owned those eyes. They were different from Reymon’s in such a way that these were, well, _fierce_ , and narrowed, as if seeing something bad all the time.

**_“You have to wake up.”_ **

I flinched as a voice whispered into my ear. Turning my head around quickly, I didn’t see anyone or anything except for the stuffed Shiny Ralts still sitting on my desk, looking as innocent and as slouchy as ever.

… Huh. Did I dream up the whole thing? Was I hallucinating?

With a furrowed brow, I pushed back the covers and slid out of bed, getting prepared for the day ahead. It _was_ possible that I had imagined the whole thing – the whole ‘school of mutual killing’ concept must have finally broken my brain or something – plus the fact that I heard someone only added up to the equation. I think I’ve finally gone nuts. Took about, oh, the deaths of eight classmates to reach that point, but I finally reached it. Yep, I’ve gone insane.

**_“Wake up.”_ **

It was that voice again. This time, however, I ignored it as I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. My hallucinations can wait; for now, a good morning shower was what I needed.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

When I walked out of my room, oddly enough, I bumped into Jenita first on my way to the canteen, who was surprisingly without Rosemary by her side. It was odd to _not_ see the two roommates together – in fact, it was almost abnormal. I had to admit, I didn’t think the other could function too long without the other by their side; sometimes I even forgot they were two separate beings. They just hung out together so often that counting them both as one being seemed to be a natural thing. But I digress.

“What’s up?” I asked the cloaked girl, raising a hand in a wave. Truth be told, I was slowly getting used to the fact that I would never see Jenita’s face, and seeing a blue eye and a green eye peer out at me from within the unnatural inky blackness that was being produced by her hood was slowly becoming normal.

But then again, that could just be my slow descent into insanity talking.

Jenita flashed a grin at me, and I inwardly shivered, taking note of the two longer canines on her upper jaw. It wasn’t obvious in her usual big smile, but when she took extra care to smile in a certain way – from what I’ve seen anyway – the two slightly longer canines on her upper jaw became pronounced. In a way, they looked like fangs. “Good purrning, Marc! You seem to be early today!”

“Well, I got the weirdest of wakeup calls, so I couldn’t fall asleep again.” **_Oh, great job, genius. Tell the catgirl about your slow descent into insanity. That’s a GREAT way to make friends, I should take notes from you._**

Her cat smile practically turning upside down, Jenita asked in a concerned tone, “Oh? Do tell me, Mistpurr Alelis. I am meowst willing to listen, nyaaaa!”

“Well…” I pushed my fingers together awkwardly, thinking about how to word it without her potentially thinking I really did go insane even though I’m probably not insane _yet_ but am in the process of spiraling into madness. I mean, sure, I did say that I was going insane, but that was only the biggest possibility, what with me most likely hallucinating the appearance of fierce golden eyes and a voice that seemed a bit garbled but was clearly a male’s.

… Oh my god, I just held a long rant in my own brain. I really am going insane.

Jenita gently whacked a sleeve across my face. It didn’t hurt because it was just the cloth, technically, but I did snap out of it. “Well, Marc?”

“Uh… how do I word this… well…” I swallowed before confessing, “I… IwokeupandsawapairofgoldeneyesstaringbackatmefiercelyandIheardavoicetellingmetowakeupbutI’mprettysureIhallucinatedallthathahahahahandIthinkI’mslowlygoinginsanefromstayinginthisschooleventhoughitprobablytookmeabouteightdeathstospiralintomadnessbuthereIamhahahaha-“

“Nyaaa, Marc, slow dooooown~!” The girl whined, flailing her arms childishly. “I didn’t undpurrstand a single woooord! Say them all clearly or I will send you to Rosemary fur therapy, you understand?”

I gulped; getting sent to Rosemary for therapy seemed like a viable threat. “Well, okay… I woke up today, and right when I opened my eyes… I saw a pair of golden ones staring right back at me.”

“Golden eyes?” Jenita’s interest seemed piqued. “Are you sure you didn’t leave your door open and let Reymon sneak in by accident?”

I shook my head vehemently. “No; those weren’t Reymon’s eyes. I could tell.”

“How?”

“Well… Reymon’s eyes are amber, for one. And if they weren’t and it was just a trick of the light, I know for a fact that Reymon’s are almost rarely narrowed.” My brow furrowed again in contemplation. “These eyes I saw… they were fierce, and they seemed like they can see something bad that nobody else can see. I hid under the blankets after that, but when I peeked back out, nobody was there.”

“…”

“Also… I heard someone telling me to ‘wake up’.” I crossed my arms, thinking out loud, “But what is there to wake up from? Was my subconscious finally telling me that I’ve gone insane and that I should wake up from my insanity-induced nightmare and become normal again? Or am I actually in a coma right now and am dreaming this whole thing? Or-“

I felt a hand on my shoulder. An actual hand, with a blue fingerless gauntlet on it. “Marc, I think you need to calm the furrick down and eat some breakfast. You’re probably just really hungry.”

“You think so?” I seriously doubted that, but if it involved eating food…

Jenita grinned. “Come on, silly billy, let’s go to the canteen. The ofurs are already waiting, I can feel it, yes!” And with that, the catty fangirl flounced up the stairs and down the stairs to the canteen, with me hot on her heels. However, on the top of the stairs to the canteen, I was hit with one sudden realization that a normal person wouldn’t have noticed had they not been (probably) descending into insanity.

Jenita was the kind of person who smiled with their eyes as well as their mouth. At least, that was what I could infer from her constantly grinning face, every time she hung around Rosemary.

When she grinned at me a while ago, however, the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Heeeey~!”

With an eyebrow raised, I watched as Juneth practically faceplanted onto the table as Monocat popped up at the head of said table, looking quite pleased with herself… as usual. The cat had her chest – or what could be considered her chest area – puffed up with pride, and I swear her single red eye was twinkling with glee. it could only mean one thing.

It was Wilson who spoke, however. “… Another motive?”

“Aw, come on, Wilson~!” Monocat seemed to deflate at Wilson’s apparently accurate guess. “Let your little darling headmistress have her little fun, meoooow!”

“Let me think… no.”

“You’re no fun for a Super High Schol Lefurl Gamer…” The ‘principal’ pouted considerably before brightening up and gesturing wildly with her paws, saying, “Aftpurr breakfast, I want efurrypawdy at the Amadome for the next present I’m about to give you all, okay? Oh, wait, not efurrypawdy can come; some of you are dead, dead, _DEAD!_ NYAHAAHAHAHA~!” With a high pitched cackle, the cat ducked under the table again, and when I looked down, she was gone once more.

… Dammit.

“We can take all the time we need.” Wilson declared, stuffing another bagel into his mouth and chewing it, swallowing before adding, “Monocat and her stupid motive games can wait for a bit, yeah?”

I eyed Juneth, whose green hair was still splayed out all over her part of the table. “Forget that; is Juneth going to wake up?”

“Let her be; she’s like this all the time when she hangs out with me.” Rafael made a dismissive gesture before returning to his breakfast. The rest did so as well, albeit a little slower due to Wilson’s encouragements to take their time. Some started engaging in conversation, and soon, I found myself chatting with Ina, who still seemed to be ignoring Dave, but at a much less drastic rate. And by that I mean she wasn’t ignoring him as much; she wasn’t directly talking to him, but if he asked her questions, she seemed to answer with gestures, at least.

“So, have you found anything?” I probed the Mathematician quietly.

Ina nodded vigorously before whispering, “I’ve only read up to the fiftieth page, but it looks like everything is actually sorted according to Super High School Levels. I found Andrea’s pages close to those of the Super High School Level Astronomer and the Super High School Level Attorney, who’s none other than Justine, obviously.”

“That’s amazing! What’s it say on Justine’s pages?”

“Um…” Ina tugged on a lock of hair anxiously as Daenna passed by with Arvin, having a heated debate. “That’s… just it actually. The information on Justine’s page is really limited to his Attorney skills; it says absolutely nothing about him being a cyborg or a Super High School Level Cyborg, even. It’s like they weren’t acknowledging his half robotic existence!”

I eyed Justine, who seemed to be gloomier than usual, staring plaintively at Rosemary, who was making a point _not_ to look in his direction at all. “I dunno Ina, maybe he became a Cyborg after the book was made. It’s possible, you know?”

“True…” Ina looked thoughtful as she made a rude gesture towards Dave, who snickered, only to get a bagel in his face courtesy of aforementioned Mathematician. “I’ll look more into it after Monocat gives the motive.”

“INCOMING!”

I only had the chance to blink twice before something whizzed past my ear and smacked straight into Jenita’s face, stunning the Fangirl into silence. The whole breakfast table silenced and looked towards where the offending object now sliding down Jenita’s cloak – a pancake – had come from: a slingshot, which was currently in the hands of none other than the Super High School Level Ornithologist, Aisley Pondevida.

Aisley and Jenita eyed each other warily, with most of us stuck in between them, the Fangirl slowly unsheathing her clawntlets and the Ornithologist grabbing another pancake. Nathan took the hint, surprisingly, and ducked underneath the tables with a low whistle, followed by Wilson and a plate full of waffles. This continued on until finally, I was the only one in between both of them, and everyone was underneath the tables.

I swear I could hear duel music coming from somewhere as Jenita said, “So, you dare to throw a pancake at my purrecious cloak… without thinking that I wouldn’t retaliate, hm…?”

“I never said anything about your retaliation, Pouncellor.” Aisley’s reply was _perfectly_ synced with the duel music in my head. Her hands had the pancake poised on the slingshot and pointed at Jenita. “However it is your choice if you’ll advance or abscond.”

A flash of white from Jenita’s mouth.  I had no idea if it was a smirk or a scowl. “Marquise Mindfang, you are as infurriating as efur. Howefur… you must recall that I am the mighty Pouncellor, and I don’t back away from battle!” And with that, Jenita dug her clawntlets into the various stacks of pancakes and waffles on the table, and started launching them at Aisley whilst emitting loud battle shrieks. Aisley did the same, albeit with added maple syrup bombs. It was then that I decided that I was being stupid, and that I should _really be hiding underneath the table with everyone else_.

When I finally ducked under – with maple syrup all over the front of my shirt and my sleeves – Juneth – who was finally awake – eyed the maple syrup on my sleeves with a curious look. I was startled, however, when she sidled closer and pretty much bit into my arm.

“Juneth, what the hell?!” I exclaimed, trying to wriggle free of her iron bite.

Juneth waited a few more moments before releasing me, wiping away traces of maple syrup from her face before grinning a little mischievously. “Well, aren’t you sweet, Marc? You taste just like maple syrup!”

“That’s because I _am_ covered in maple syrup.”

“True, true.” Juneth licked some of the maple syrup that had gotten onto her fingers before saying, “D’you think Monocat will catch them having a food fight up there?”

“It’d be impossible for her _not_ to notice. They’re causing a racket.”

“True, true.” The Escape Artist looked thoughtful for a moment as Justine got hauled out from under the table and thrown into the crossfire between the ‘Pouncellor’, Jenita, and the ‘Marquise Mindfang’, Aisley. Rosemary laughed her butt off as Mika shook her head, only to shriek when she herself got thrown into the battle by her braids – literally. No, really, she got pulled out from under the table with her long braids. Go figure. “Marc?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think the motive is about this time?” Juneth asked, shifting until her position looked and probably felt a lot more comfortable. Her champagne colored eyes seemed to shine behind her glasses as she continued, “The first one involved our families, and the second one our friends. What do you think the third one is about?”

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… I don’t really think it’s just our friends for the second murder, despite most of them being about friends. ‘Them’… being memories. The second motives played with our minds.”

“Is that what you think?”

“No, that’s what I pulled out of my ass.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“ _Yes_ , that’s what I think, Juneth.” I rolled my eyes before sighing and saying, “Sorry. But anyway, like I said, the second motive was aimed at our minds. By showing us incomplete memories that were taken away from us, our mind was driven to confusion and stuff. At least, that’s what I think.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Oh, it’s Nathan. The Gourmet pushed his way over, squashing some of the others – who either whined or yelped in protest – until he found enough space to sit next to Juneth, who immediately sidled up next to him this time and leaned on his side. Like I said, Nathan was a big teddy bear of a person, and I’ve got the feeling that if you leaned on him it’d feel like a pillow.

“We’re discussing what the next motive is gonna be, and what the previous motives were.” I explained, wincing when I heard Monocat’s grating voice finally berating the two girls who were left up there. “What do you think?”

Nathan tugged on the red neckerchief tied around his neck. “Well I know for a fact that the second motive was messing with our brains. You guys didn’t see it, but Arah was ice cold that night.”

“What night?” Juneth asked.

“The night after the motive was given, I think.” I guessed. “What do you mean she was ice cold?”

Nathan yawned before replying, “In the middle of the night I woke up because of a sudden chill passing through my whole body. When I looked to my side, however, I saw Arah’s hand clutching my arm, and when I tried to move her hand away, I was chilled again. Her body temperature seemed lower than normal then.”

“Why didn’t you tell any of us then?” Juneth sounded just a little bit worried. “She could’ve needed medical care or something!”

The Gourmet fiddled with his neckerchief. “My peacemaker sensei… she doesn’t like looking weak in front of others. She’s only a little different when around me, but y’know… it makes all the difference!” Nathan sighed and stared off wistfully. “But yeah… the second motive was about the mind and messing with it.”

“The first motive dealt with our loved ones.” Juneth mused, bringing back into light the videos we had all seen. I then recalled Aiel’s video, and shuddered, remembering the implied massacre. “It toyed with our concern for the ones we loved with all our heart.”

Nathan suddenly looked like he had a bright idea. “The heart… maybe that’s what the first motive was messing with! If the second motive toyed with the mind… the first one toyed with the heart!”

“That makes sense,” I agreed, watching as the rest all left our sanctuary under the tables. “But if that’s what we’re going with, what would the third motive be about?”

Juneth and Nathan looked at each other before shrugging. I sighed, then stated, “Look, we should all probably go and clean ourselves up before Monocat hands us the next motive. I… guess I’ll see you both around?”

“You’re the only one who needs to clean yourself up next to Aisley and Jenita, you know.” Juneth pointed out before sticking out her tongue and- oh my god. “JUNETH, STOP LICKING MY SLEEVES!”

Nathan, taking the hint, took Juneth by the arm and crawled out from under the table, with me following soon after. The others were already long gone, but the battlefield was… gory, to say the least. Gory with pancake guts and maple syrup, that is. There were pancakes and waffles on the walls and the floor and even the _ceiling_ – one almost fell down on Nathan, who had leaned backwards and caught said delicious breakfast food in his teeth before standing up straight again and practically slurping up the pancake with inhuman speed.

“Ewww, Nathan, you don’t know what the ceiling’s got for germs!” Juneth blanched at Nathan’s blatant disregard for the fact that the pancake had been on the fucking ceiling for god knows how long.

Nathan wiped his mouth with his neckerchief before saying snippily, “ _You_ don’t know where Marc’s hoodie has been, and you licked it over and over.”

Juneth made a face at his statement. “Touché, Gourmet.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After a short bath – I _had_ to get rid of the syrup that got on me, right? – and a fresh set of clothes, I set out for the Amadome like a guy in need of a hug, rejoining the others, who were gathered in front of the stage once more as Monocat strolled on said stage, purring like a madman. Or madwoman. Or madkitty. Whatever.

“Looks like efurrypawdy’s here!” Monocat did a roll on the stage before jumping up and standing straight, purring proudly. “Alright then, my darling, _darling_ children of hope and despair, it’s time for your third preseeeeent~! Catch it if you can, meowtherfurrickers!” And just as suddenly as she had stood up, Monocat began tossing out ‘gifts’ like a Super High School Level Frisbee Player, aiming each present at individuals – Reymon got bonked on the head again by his own present, and presently got knocked out on the wheelchair he was sitting on. I honestly have no idea why he was in a wheelchair when it’s his internal organs that are in disarray. Maybe I’m just being ignorant or something.

I caught mine by raising up my hood just in time, catching the present like a butterfly net catching a butterfly. Taking it out and unwrapping it, the contents of the box were… fairly simple. And surprisingly… cute, even.

It was a small box, but it packed quite a punch (see: Reymon Evangelista on his wheelchair at this very moment). Its contents, however, were even smaller. It was a simple little glass bottle on a golden chain, with a small four leaf clover charm hanging next to it. The clover was probably meant to make it specifically for me; I could see Ina holding up her own with a pi symbol identical to the one on her sweater, and I could see Arvin staring down his own basketball charm.

The glass bottle had something moving inside of it, but it was… strangely surreal. It didn’t seem corporeal, yet at the same time it did, moving slowly as if it were in water. It looked like a little flame, or a little comet, with a long ‘tail’ and a whitish ‘head’, but the color for mine was a vivid shade of yellow, like that of a yellow bell flower. It seemed to dance when I held it closer to my face.

“What _are_ these things?” Aisley asked for all of us, staring down her own little ghost thing – I’m gonna call them ghost things from now on – dancing in its glass bottle. Hers, from what I could see, was as white as a bald eagle’s head feathers, and a feather was the charm for hers. “What purpose do they serve?”

Monocat yawned, playing with her tail idly. “Put them on.”

Hesitating, I stared down the little glass bottle on the chain, before shrugging and telling myself, _What could go wrong? It seems harmless enough, and Monocat wants everyone to kill each other, not for her to do the dirty work._

**_Oh, EVERYTHING could go wrong._ **

_It’s you again. What do you want this time?_

**_Just saying that this is a motive, you know. It’ll motivate people to kill somehow. You sure you wanna take the risk, bro?_ **

_Who are you calling ‘bro’ when you’ve been nothing but annoying to me?_

**_Oh, come on. I’m you, you’re me, get over it. I get to call you bro when I want._ **

_You’re annoying._

**_And you’re stupid. Go ahead, put on the dumb thing, and see if it doesn’t get you killed._ **

_Fine!_ I bit back a harsh remark as I clumsily hooked the pendant thing around my neck, allowing the little glass bottle to sit close to where the heart was usually assumed to be. Once everyone put on theirs, Aisley asked again, “Again, what _are_ these? What purpose do they serve?”

“Breathe, and you will understand.” For once, Monocat seemed strangely solemn. “Feel the cold of the glass bottle, and reach out to the one inside, and you will understand what is going on.”

_Reach out to the one inside? What did she mean?_

**_I have a bad feeling about this, Alpha Marc. Don’t do it._ **

_Alpha Marc? And do what?_

**_You’re Alpha Marc since you’re the original, and I’m Shadow Marc since I’m your reflection. But anyway, don’t do what Monocat says. She won’t know._ **

_What DOES she want us to do?_

**_She wants you to open that bottle and reach out to the thing inside._ **

_You mean the ghosty thing?_

**_… Sure, whatever, the ghosty thing. That thing is DANGEROUS._ **

_How so?_

**_The ghosty thing is something that absorbs part of your personality, your essence, your soul, pretty much. If released from its prison, it will suck out a part of you before returning to the glass bottle and changing._ **

_Okay, first of all, EW. Second of all, why would Monocat want these… leechy things to suck out our ‘souls’ as you call it?_

**_I dunno, I’m as clueless as you are on that topic._ **

_Wow, very helpful, Shadow Marc._

**_Always a pleasure to be a huge dick to you, Alpha Marc._ **

_Get out of my sight._

**_I’m in your brain, dumbass. I’m here to stay._ **

_Just… just stop talking for a while. I need to see what’s happening._

**_Whatever you say, buddy._ **

Once his voice faded away from my mind, I could pay attention to what was going on, and quite frankly I was terrified when I saw that he had been correct; James had opened his, and the leechy thing inside had floated up and circled his head before lingering on his lips and returning to the bottle. At first I didn’t know what had been taken away… until James opened his mouth and tried to speak. When no sound was heard, he panicked, and tried singing, to no avail. His voice had been taken away.

But how? What… what _thing_ … what demon thingy did Monocat have to sign a contract with to do this sort of thing to us? It was bad enough that Mika had a title like ‘Dark Magician’, which was already incredulous enough to _begin with,_ but something like this? It was literally witchcraft by now, and quite frankly I’m starting to wonder exactly _what sort of mastermind comes up with schemes like this._

“James?” Mika sounded concerned, but not before the little leechy thing inside her own bottle lingered around her chest area and returned to the bottle. And just like that, the girl’s face became blank and emotionless. James gave her an imploring look, and tried to speak despite being unable to, but the girl was unresponsive, staring straight ahead.

Nathan seemed to have taken the hint and wisely avoided opening his bottle, while Ina’s had been closed a second too late before her leechy thing took away her eyesight… no matter how incredulous that may sound, it happened. Everything was slowly becoming some sort of twisted fairy tale thing that I’m starting to wonder if I’m hallucinating it all.

Hey, maybe I _am_ hallucinating it this time.

…

Nope, definitely not a dream.

But it was so… so _unrealistic_. It felt like… like some sort of creepy and weird Japanese role playing game thing with magic and monsters and… and basically status effects of some sort. This was reaching Mika’s level of freaky, and bypassing even that, skyrocketing beyond the boundaries of Pluto in terms of weirdness, even.

Arah’s gracefulness was taken away – she immediately tripped upon the return of her leechy thing to its bottle – while Bonn had his toughness taken away. Wilson had thankfully stopped Bismarck from opening his, while Shanayah was wrestling Rafael because he was insisting on opening his. Daenna’s glass bottle on a chain continued to hang from her neck as she tended to the unconscious Reymon, while Arvin wisely stowed away his inside his tall collar. Everything was going wrong.

And it was all because of that _stupid cat._

“What’s going on?!” Dave demanded, clutching Ina’s hand to keep her from straying off into anything dangerous. “What is this?! Why’s Ina blind all of a sudden and how did you do it?!”

Monocat purred deviously. “I’ve taken a page out of Miss Corella’s book and used a little of dark magic for this one! I like to call this project ‘All I Want Is Your Soul’! My darling Leech Lives have taken away important aspects of your being – at least, important aspects of the ones who actually _opened_ the damn things – and eaten them up, sending them to the hive stomach of the Mother Leech Life!”

“So this is a Leech Life…” I eyed the cute little yellow thing in my own glass bottle. Eurgh, these guys were dangerous.

“Since they share a stomach, the things they took away get allllll mixed up in the stomach and get sent back to the Leech Lives, who regurgitate them when the bottle is opened again before dying!” Monocat seemed to be really excited this time. “However they will only die if another person opens the bottle themselves _and_ if it’s the right purrson! For example…” She hopped off the stage and gestured to James and Mika. “If James were to open Mika’s bottle and it had what was taken away from him, he’ll get his voice back and his Leech Life will die, keeping him safe! But if it isn’t his, he has to kill the owner of the bottle!”

Arah stepped forward, only to trip and land into Nathan’s arms. “That is quite the unfair method, Monocat. Will we get what we lost back if someone does end up committing murder and getting caught?”

“Well of _coooourse_ , duhhhh~!” Monocat laughed. “I’m not that cruel; what use are my toys if you’re all broken and messed up forever? Of course I’m going to fix you right up again before I play with you once more!”

Everyone – except Mika – eyed each other warily. Who would be desperate enough to kill for what they lost?

Jenita looked around wildly, her mechanical cat tail seemingly responding to her emotions and frizzing up considerably. “I don’t think I undpurrstand what was taken away furom me, though…? I’m not missing anything like everyone else.”

“Yeah… nothing seemed to go away when I opened it.” Aisley eyed her Leech Life with anxiousness. “I’m still okay, I think.”

“Oh, you _will_ see, my darling Jenita. My darling Aisley. ” Monocat’s eyes flashed. “You will see what you lost soon enough. But enough about that; do wake up Reymon for me, will you, Daenna? I need to discuss the disarray of his internal organs and how that’ll affect him.”

Daenna nodded mutely before leaning close to Reymon’s ear, whispering, while Rosemary was practically aflame a few meters away. Soon, Reymon began to stir, and Monocat purred loudly, bounding up to him before discussing exactly what she said. Probably, anyway; I couldn’t understand what they were saying from my position.

I stared down at the Leech Life, which continued to dance around lazily inside its bottle. If Monocat could do things such as this… what’s stopping her from starting a murder herself and pinning the blame on someone else? It could happen, but… right now she’s not trying that. Does she believe that there are still people who will fall for her motives, as Ellianna and Joshua had? As Aiel had, even? Does she believe that… that we’re all hopeless? That we’ll all end up killing each other until only the last man standing is left here and allowed to go free?

Maybe… I stared at my hands wistfully, as if it’d help. Maybe… maybe she did believe in that philosophy. It could happen.

**_That’s a sick way of looking at our situation, Alpha Marc._ **

_She’s a despair cat, Shadow Marc. She must think something like that._

**_Maybe YOU’RE the despair cat if you know so much about her line of thinking. For all we know, she could be exactly like one of our friends._ **

_Huh?_

**_Maybe her personality is like Arah’s. Or Juis’s. Or even Jenita’s – I swear, the cat puns are telling me a lot. Maybe she doesn’t aim for just despair; maybe she’s got a reason._ **

_… Just give me a reason, just a little bit’s enough, just a second, we’re not broken just bent, and we can leaaaarn to-_

**_No. Shut up. No singing when talking to me._ **

_You ASKED FOR IT._

**_You should probably get going, Alpha Marc. And don’t forget to get rid of that Leech Life in your room, JESUS._ **

_Alright._

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

**29/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gonna try cranking out the chapters as fast as i can this week; rwby volume 2's coming up soOOOON


	24. Valley of the Souls: End of (Ab)Normal Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can't believe i took so fucking long to update but here i am

**[03: VALLEY OF THE SOULS – END OF (AB)NORMAL DAYS]**

It wasn’t the loud and insistent knocking on my door that woke me up that morning. It wasn’t the cheerful voice of Monocat on the screen delivering her morning greetings and updates ( ** _“Good morning my talented darlings! Let’s all have a wonderful fifty-fifty chance of surviving day today! I have currently restocked the retail store with new items, so be sure to check them out when you can! Again, have a nice day, my sweets! Meeowww~!”_ ) **that woke me up either. Rather, it was the faint brush of fingers across my cheek that woke me up with a jolt, sitting up quickly and breathing heavily, as if I had awoken from a nightmare. Looking to my bedside table, I saw that the Ralts plush was still there, unmoving, as was my Student ID card, but there was still something off about my room…

**_“Hey. You.”_ **

Oh. It was the mysterious voice from yesterday. Or was it the other day? What difference did it make anymore, anyway? Time seemed to lose importance while we remained inside this wretched school, except when the moments of the deaths were involved. No, wait, it _was_ yesterday. I really was losing track of time.

**_“Listen, you really need to wake up.”_ **

Hm, funny, it sounded like the voice was coming from right beside my- OH MY GOD.

I screamed again at the sight of the fierce golden eyes, falling out of my bed just as Arah stumbled in, looking rather flustered, only to pause and eye me, positioned awkwardly on the floor. “Ah… am I interrupting something?”

“How’d you get into my room?” I countered, trying to shift myself into a much more comfortable position before realizing with a start that the eyes – and whoever owned them – were gone again. Damn it. “For that matter, did you see anyone else here with me just as you got inside? Like say… beside my bed? Because my sanity depends on your answer.”

The Secretary gave me a doubtful look, inching closer towards a wall and leaning against it. “… Unless you’ve been consorting with some other person within the boundaries of this school, I doubt that I would have found any other person in here with you. You don’t seem like the type.”

“Wha-“ I couldn’t help it: a blush flared up as I stammered and sputtered, “N-n-n-no, t-that’s not w-what I meant a-at all!”

“But that’s not why I came here.” At this, Arah’s face took on a worried look as she played with the tips of her hair, anxiously twirling a certain lock of it. Her other hand was constantly shifting, and although the clipboard she was clutching was doing a very good job at hiding it, her hand was shaking. “Before I say anything, you left your door open. That was a very dangerous thing to do.”

“… But you knocked…”

“Common courtesy is something that exists, Marc.” Arah then proceeded to unceremoniously grab me by my wrist and haul me up, albeit a bit clumsily since her ‘gracefulness’ still seemed to be missing, steadying me with both hands until I had to bat her away while whining like a child. Coughing, she mumbled, “I apologize for that.”

I eyed her incredulously. “You’re sorry for helping me up?”

“… No, I’m sorry for all those that came after.” Arah looked distant for a moment, looking at something I couldn’t see as her eyes glazed over for a bit. “It’s just that you reminded me of Eugene for a few moments, in that position.”

“Oh?”

“He frequently fell out of bed when we were children. My mother was almost never home, and my sisters were always out doing something, and it wasn’t very ideal for a young girl to be left alone in a house, so I was given permission to sleep over at the Dato home for as long as I wished.” At this, Arah let a wistful sigh escape her lips. “I usually slept in the guest room there, but since I usually ended up camping in Eugene’s room anyway in a pillow fort, they got another bed in there just for me.”

“… That’s pretty cool of the Datos. But, uh… what was your reason for coming here again?”

“… Oh, that’s right.” The worried look in Arah’s eyes returned, and the glaze disappeared as she focused back on me. “Nathan was nowhere to be found this morning. I woke up early, about three hours ago, but he was not lying down on our bed, so I assumed that he was already up and about, seeing as that our bathroom door was ajar. However, when I asked Monocat if he was already running around, she shrugged and told me-“

“- that the only one crazy enough to be up at this hour was her!” And just like that, Monocat popped up from under my bed, shimmying out like a worm. With a flourish, however, she stood upright, and meowed, “Yes, yes… I did not see Nathan wandering around the school hallways, and I _always_ have my eye on efurrything, you see! I would not lie to you if I saw somebody walking around, I swear on my beautiful monochrome heart of gold!”

… Well, that was redundant of her. “… That’s redundant. A monochrome heart of gold?”

“Oh shush you, Marky, you get the point.” Monocat waved a paw dismissively before turning to Arah. “Howefur… I must confess that this morning, I saw a furry weird shadowy figure dashing around Maceda. It did not look like any of you students, seeing as that it was wearing a cloak. It _could_ have been Jenita, my darling prodigy at fangirling, but it did not have her little cat ears and her little tail, so it was impossible for it to be her!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you… allowed to show us your evidence, at least? So we could figure it out as well as look for where Nathan might have gone?”

“I supawse I could… but then again, I could not! It depends on my mood, you see, nyahahahaha!” With a delirious cackle, Monocat did a barrel roll back under my bed, and once I looked back down, she was gone. As usual, of course.

With a sigh, I turned to Arah. “Well… maybe we can go look for Nathan?  And possibly find this ‘mysterious shadowy figure’,” I made air quotation marks – heh, quotation Marcs – at the word. “We can’t leave this school, so they’re both bound to be somewhere in here, right?”

“I… suppose you’re right.” Arah sighed again, pursing her lips in thought. “I do hope he’s alright.”

**_By this point you should probably think of the worst, you know, Alpha Marc._ **

_Oh, it’s you again. Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too, but you know-_

**_“THERE’S ALWAYS HOPE,” yadda yadda. I KNOW. I’m technically you, remember?_ **

_Yeah, I guess so. But… what do you think?_

**_About what?_ **

_This whole thing. Is Nathan probably okay?_

**_…_ **

_C’mon, give me at least a percentage. What are the odds that Nathan Cordero, the Super High School Level Gourmet, is alive and well, and will turn up at breakfast this morning safe and sound?_

**_… Right now I can give you a 50% on that. There’s no telling what could’ve happened, y’know?_ **

_Of course I know. I’m you, remember?_

**_Oh, HA HA, asshat. Arah’s waiting for you, stop talking to me._ **

Huh?

Oh, right.

With a reassuring smile – Arah appeared to be staring at me in concern (because I had stopped to talk to the other Marc inside my head) – I stated cheerily, “Yeah, I hope Nathan’s okay. Don’t worry; I was just talking to myself in my head.”

“…” Arah eyed me curiously. “… Have you… gone to therapy with Rosemary recently?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Her lips pursed again, this time in a somewhat pout. “Bonn came out seriously haggard after a therapy session with Rosemary at Alzona Hall a few days ago. I had been, for lack of a better term, hauled off by Nahangel so I could join him in waiting for his roommate outside of the hall, but mere minutes after I sat down on the staircase, well, Bonn came barreling out, demanding that we leave. I do believe he wasn’t the same since then.”

“How would you know?” I asked her skeptically. She didn’t seem like the type to observe those like Bonn often. “I mean, I know you’re a great observer and all but do you really observe Bonn as much as you observe the rest of us?”

Arah’s head tilted a little, allowing her glasses to catch the light. In a way, she pretty much looked _terrifying._ “I observe everyone equally. However, seeing as that the roommate of the Rulebreaker is one of my former employers, or at least, one of the former employers of my family, I tend to get more information than what I deem necessary.” At this, however, carnation pink fluttered across and colored her cheeks. “Nahangel is very talkative about people he cares about deeply.”

“Oh?”

“… I take it you didn’t see the end of the memo back then, then.” Arah sighed, pushing up her glasses with her middle and index fingers before saying, “Never mind that. My roommate could be in jeopardy right now. We should get on to looking. But first, put on your casual wear. Unless you’d like to walk around in your pajamas?”

I looked down at myself. Oh.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After a quick change of clothes, I guided Arah gently – better that than have her knees buckling every other minute – around by the hand, at times catching her whenever she tilted too far forward or backward. We had a few minutes until breakfast started anyway, so nobody would miss us too much. Probably. I’m not very sure.

There wasn’t much to see, to be honest. Ascending the eastern stairs of the Maceda building – there were two sets of stairs, but the closest one to the rooms (which were near the canteen) was the one on the eastern side - , we glanced around, pausing on each floor to check each room to see if Nathan or possibly Jenita was there.

“… Hey, Marc?” Arah asked, pausing at the top of the stairs on the fourth floor, a hand clutching the railing tightly.

“Yes?”

The Secretary’s lips pursed again in thought. “I was just wondering. Haven’t you given a thought as to what Aisley and Jenita might have lost?”

“Lost…?”

“You know, what they could have possibly had taken away from them.”

I paused as well, giving the thought more, well, thought. Well, I wasn’t particularly worried about either of them, so I didn’t give much thought to the possibilities of what the Fangirl and the Ornithologist could have lost. Now that Arah had brought it up, however… what _did_ they lose that they didn’t notice immediately? Loss of passion for fangirling for Jenita, perhaps? Or a loss of the intense desire to down twenty bottles of barbecue sauce like it was whiskey even though she – Aisley – was underaged and probably wouldn’t be allowed near a bottle of whiskey or whatever alcoholic drink for at least thirty more years by her parents? I had no idea. Either way, now that Arah had planted it in my brain, it wouldn’t stop bothering me.

“Damn it, Arah, now you’ve got the idea stuck in my head.” I grumbled, crossing my arms before immediately reaching out to Arah, remembering that she still had her gracefulness gone. How did one even take away gracefulness? Wasn’t that some sort of God-given gift to people like Arah? “But… anyway, how many of you guys opened the things? I’m pretty sure I saw some guys, but I wasn’t really sure if there were others.”

Arah tapped her chin with a finger. “Well… you are already aware of James and Mika’s conditions, and Ina’s, as well, and mine. There’s Bonn, whose general capability to punch things for no reason – or, if you really want to call it so, his _toughness_ – is missing, and-“

“I already know about Bonn. Anyone else I should know about?”

The girl with fuchsia-violet hair looked towards the first door on the fourth floor. “Jenita and Aisley had something taken away from them, but nobody except Monocat knows what. I found Justine in a similar state of disarray in the clinic with Rosemary, surprisingly; I thought she was still mad at him. Eugene was cowering in his room last time I saw him, so I assume he got something taken away as well, and, last I checked… Wilson was acting awfully humble.”

“Wilson was acting awfully humble?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is that… really an indicator that something was taken away from him?”

The sides of her mouth twitched up a little. “… Perhaps. I am not very close to him, so I cannot really say for sure, but I do believe he has become… less prideful? Is that the correct term?”

“Well, I wouldn’t frigging know, I haven’t talked to him yet.” I frowned; why was it that I never knew what was going on with the others unless someone like Arah told me about them? Honestly, I was starting to feel really left out. I should really hang out with the others more. “But anyway, this is the fourth floor already, so if Nathan isn’t around here, then that means he’s either moved on to another building, or is back at your room.”

“Both very unlikely choices.”

“Well, Nathan could move very fast, you know. Haven’t you seen the videos where in a fit of desperation he manages to salvage every single dish thrown at him due to hunger by balancing them on his body parts?”

The slight widening of Arah’s eyes and the way her mouth dropped open into a small ‘o’ told me everything; she hadn’t seen those videos. Still, who could blame her? She probably had this really busy time being the most top notch secretary in the Philippines, especially since her street cred involved the princess of a fucking COUNTRY and the heir to one of the strongest companies in the Philippines, and now she even had the credentials that said she worked for the next president in training. Talk about heavy duty extra credit in class, metaphorically speaking. Or… wait. I don’t know. I’m not very good at metaphors myself. Guh, I should shut up. I really should.

**_Even though technically you’re talking to yourself?_ **

Oh, shush, you.

**_The pot calling the kettle black now, huh?_ **

No, really, shut the fuck up, me. I don’t need your input right now.

**_That’s harsh, Alpha Marc. You sure? I could help you right now, you know._ **

Mmhm. Sure you can.

**_Yeah, I sure as hell can help you right now, because you seem to be missing something incredibly obvious right now and it seems like you’ll never find out unless I tell you._ **

And that would be…?

**_The fact that the scent of blood is in the air._ **

The scent of-

I inhaled sharply through my nose; he was right, there _was_ the unmistakable scent of blood in the air. Tangy, metallic, but certainly a scent I seemed to have grown used to. If this had been the first murder, I’d have probably passed out by now, but… right now, I seemed indifferent to the scent. I was honestly a bit scared; it’s already gotten to the point where I didn’t particularly care for the scent of blood anymore, when before I would react a lot simply to the sight of it. Guess that was what a high school of mutual killing did to your mindset.

Letting my instinct – or basically letting other me take over for a while – guide me, I ended up at the nearest classroom, room M-44, and noted that the windows were shut, compared to the ones in the other rooms; room M-43’s windows were wide open, whereas M-42’s, at least, from what I could see, were half open, and half closed. However, there was no mistake; the scent was coming from M-44.

**_Seeeee? Told you I could help._ **

Yeah, yeah, I get your point, man. Say, you don’t happen to know who it is… do you?

**_Christ, no. I’m not the murderer. YOU’RE not the murderer._ **

…

**_… ARE you the murderer?_ **

For fuck’s sakes, **_NO!_**

**_Alright, alright, just checking to see if your mental state was still well, man. Don’t get all riled up._ **

At this rate, I’ll probably be driven batty by your incessant babbling.

**_Oh, ha ha, Alpha Marc. C’mon, I wanna see who died. Open the door. C’mon._ **

Okay first of all, _wow_ that did not sound sadistic and creepy at all. Second, since you’re me, can’t you control me to some extent? I let you take the reins a while ago, right?

**_EEEEENK. Wrong answer! I’m you, but it will always be you doing the thing and not me doing the thing!_ **

… So what you’re saying is… _I’m_ the one who led us to this door?

**_Bada bing, bada boom, man!_ **

You’re inconsistent.

**_You’re fat._ **

Wow, _rude_. That technically makes you fat too, you know.

**_Fat and proud, brother. Fat and proud._ **

… Ugh. I’m just gonna go and check out the room now.

**_Like you should have done instead of arguing with me._ **

Yes, exactly.

“Hey, Arah… can you smell that?” I asked the Secretary, who was still clutching the railing of the staircase for dear life.

Arah raised an eyebrow before shaking her head. Huh. Guess she didn’t have the same sense of smell. But then again, it was Shadow Marc who told me about the scent. Was I really that numb scent-wise to the scent of blood now that I didn’t notice it the first hand? That was scary. But still, I pushed forward. Turning the knob of the door and pushing forward, I entered the room with Arah’s hand on my shoulder, only to fall flat on my butt when I saw what exactly was inside the room.

Room M-44 was, evidently, a room for History class. Artifacts of all sorts, ranging from a scale model of the Pyramids of Giza to the Hanging Gardens were on display, as were a bunch of other things such as books and notebooks and papers. Those, I already knew about. The most prominent portion of the room, however, was the slightly larger than normal world map hanging on the back wall of the room, and it was that portion of the room that made me drop almost like a sack of bricks.

Her body was limp, pale from all the blood she had lost, which was still dripping down onto the floor and all over some rolled up cartolina, staining them a macabre shade of red. The teal Libra symbol on her shirt was covered with red splatters, masking the teal color, while her head hung low, her mint green hair falling over her right eye and over her right shoulder, creating a very unsettling look with only one eye showing. I could only infer that her eyes were glossy and half-closed, and a thin trail of blood continued to escape out of the left corner of her mouth. Her arms, however, were stretched on both sides of her, up to the elbows, before allowing the rest of her arms to hang limply. They were pinned up by what appeared to be two halves of a pair of scissors, and all over the wall behind and around her, were unnaturally large blood spatters. Her large teal-gray glasses sat broken on her nose, ready to fall at the slightest movement.

Aisley Pondevida, the Super High School Level Ornithologist, was dead and crucified, her arms spread out like the wings of a bird.

“Oh no…” Arah’s breath caught in her throat, and the Secretary fell down next to me, her legs folding neatly underneath her as she collapsed like a telescope, a hand still clutching my hoodie’s sleeve tightly. The scream that should have come from me, from us, choked me by staying lodged in my throat, unwilling to come out, so instead I quietly suffered as Arah and I both mourned Aisley’s death, waiting for Monocat to broadcast that a dead body has been found.

We waited for a bit, for someone to come upstairs and locate Aisley’s body for him or herself, so that the rule of ‘three to see a dead body to get the announcement’ finally applies, and soon enough, we got a visitor in the form of Jenita, who meowed in confusion before finally noticing the dead body pinned to the world map on the wall and flailing in bewilderment, falling over as she did so, though surprisingly the announcement only came up when Rafael stumbled in as well, looking rather frazzled until he saw Aisley, at which he screamed and backed away from.

**_“Puuuuuuurrriiiim pom pam puuuum~! A body has been found! Following a brief period of meaningful investigation, please gather in the Amadome for the class trial!”_ **

Ah, there it was. Thank you based Jenita and based Rafael, for alerting everyone else that someone was already dead by your appearances.

Strangely enough, after that brief display of bewilderment and surprise at seeing Aisley pinned to the wall, Jenita was… how did she put it? She was ‘okay’ with it. She even went so far as to say that the smell of death didn’t bother her, and the fact that Aisley was pinned to a world map made her voice out loud the opinion, “Mrrowr… it makes me wondpurr if the fact she was crucified on a map has any significance…”

“…” I didn’t know what to say to that, to be honest. It sounded like Jenita was literally just putting her thoughts out in the open at the moment, but that… didn’t seem like her. As far as I knew Jenita was a character who only really spoke of her suspicions around Rosemary.

Speaking of the Therapist, where _was_ she?

“Where’s Rose?” I asked the Fangirl, who yawned and rubbed her eyes with her ridiculously long sleeves, bringing into mind those anime episodes with anime girls wiping their eyes in a cute manner as if they’ve woken up from a long slumber. “Aren’t you two joined at the hip?”

“Didn’t you ask me this befur, Alelis?” Jenita snapped back, only to reply in a surly tone, “I left her to sleep, okay? She’s been having nightmares and I don’t want to wake her in the middle of one lest she stab me with a polished knife that she keeps hidden in her pillow!”

“… Riiiiiight.” Rafael and I both said. Not that I didn’t believe the ‘Rosemary having nightmares’ part. It was the part where Jenita mentioned a ‘polished knife hidden in a pillow’ that made me seriously doubt she was being serious at the moment. “Well, anyway-“

**“OH MY GOD!”**

**_“Pimmm pooom pammm puuuuuuummmm~! Yet another body has been found, my lovelies! As I said before, following a period of investigation, please gather in the Amadome for the class trial~!”_ **

… Fuck me.

**_No one would do that._ **

No, you shut the fuck up for a minute, and let us find the other dead bodies. You will stay the fuck down and shut the fuck up inside my head, and let me think clearly before I metaphorically slap you with a tuna.

**_Whoa man, no need to get violent, no need to get violent. I’m cool. I’ll shut up._ **

And that was the last I heard of him for a while.

Running across the hamster tunnel bridge towards the Main Building on the third floors of Maceda and the Main Building with Arah, Rafael and Jenita, I spotted Jenita slowing down a little at the entrance to the secluded area where the library was before hurrying up once again and keeping pace with me, flailing her sleeves and hopping up and down, spouting off suggestions as to where it might have come from. “Fourth floor? First floor? Room where Aiel died? Maybe Room 201! Ooh, or maybe in the dorms!”

“Upstairs. It came from upstairs.”

It took me a moment to register that it had been Paula who had spoken, emerging from the staff room for the Social Studies department on the third floor, before the stairs. The Writer looked like she had barely slept, holding a book she was obviously in the middle of reading. But what was she doing here so early in the morning?

“What’re you doing in the Social Studies department this early?” I questioned as Arah fidgeted, looking uneasy.

Paula gave me a look which said ‘ughhhh’. “It’s already 7:34. That’s not early.”

“Uh, yeah it is?” Rafael had a hand on his hip and another wagging a finger disapprovingly at the haggard-looking Writer, who looked like she wanted to bite his head off. “C’mon, Pau, if you’re up to something sneaky, you can tell us. It’s ‘in’ to sneak around in this hellhole, y’know?”

Judging from the look on her face, Paula was trying to bite back a snarl. “I wasn’t ‘sneaking around’, _Rafael_ ,” At this Raffy flinched a little. “I went to sleep early yesterday and woke up early and decided that investigating would be the most useful thing to do since I couldn’t go to sleep again.”

“Yeah, well… what’s that you’ve got there?” The Trendsetter asked, pointing to the book in Paula’s hand and raising an eyebrow curiously. Running a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair – seriously, how does he get it to stay up like that every day? It both did and didn’t look gelled - , he added, “Oh, and, exactly how long have you been here?”

Paula shrugged nonchalantly, though I could see the hesitance in her eyes. “I’ve been here since 3AM, with permission from Monocat to investigate, seeing as that it’s in the rules that we’re free to investigate.”

“Wha- I completely forgot about that rule!” Oh, _now_ I was pissed. Monocat had taken that notebook away from me when I had been investigating without my express consent. Though… she _did_ say it was hers. But then again she could’ve been lying to my face. “Ooohhhh, that fucking cat…!”

“Anyway, shouldn’t you guys be checking on that scream? You can always come back to me later.” Paula flipped her hair over her shoulder before reentering the room, leaving us to scrabble towards the fourth floor stairs hastily. Jenita gave up after around the third step, however, sliding down slowly back to the ground of the third floor before murmuring something along the lines of “I’mma just gonna go sleep here, mmkay… meooow…”

Arah looked questioningly at the catlike girl, who was currently face down on the third floor’s floor, but once Rafael poked her shoulder, she pushed on forward with us, ascending the stairs in a wobbly fashion until we reached the solid ground of the fourth floor, where we made our way to the different classrooms, checking to see where the scream had come from. It didn’t come from Room 401 or 400, though we did find Bonn sitting inside a box in Room 401, snoring with a tarpaulin on his head. Rafael had raised an eyebrow at this, but we continued on anyway to Room 402, where we found-

In Room 402, the room where Aiel’s body had been found, there was also a map, similar to the one in M-44. And, just like in M-44, there was another body pinned to the map, which had originally been framed with glass; said glass was now scattered all over the floor directly below the map, mixed in with the blood that continued to drip from the corpse of who was once our friend.

Her hands were pinned to one location on the map and one location only; somewhere in what I assumed was Europe, since the blood that seemed to bloom from the wound on her palms stained the whole area a bright red, and because that was the only continent I couldn’t see. Mouth opened in a dismayed ‘o’, and champagne colored, but glassy eyes staring straight down at the floor, her normally vibrant dark greenish hair now looked disgusting against the blood that trailed down from her hairline, made its way down her face, and dripped onto the floor. There was a gash straight through her stomach as well, and oddly enough, it looked like the shape of the gash – which looked like some sort of… sigil? – was intentional.

Juneth Magbanua, the Escape Artist, was dead too.

There wasn’t much to say about her death, though I did feel a slight pang of guilt at the fact that I thought she was worse than Charles. Juneth had her bad aspects, but she _was_ pretty okay to talk to, and she was… relatively nice about- wait, what was that?

Gazing down at the floor near Juneth’s body, I saw yet another body that made my eyes go wide. “SHANAYAH!”

“Shine?!” Rafael immediately knelt down beside the Model’s body, grabbing a hand, feeling for a pulse. When he couldn’t find any, however, he pressed his ear to where the heart was generally located, trying to listen for a beat. A minute passed, then another, until finally the Trendsetter sighed in relief and said, “She’s alive. She just passed out.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. So Shine was still okay; she just passed out because she saw Juneth. But what was Shanayah doing here at this hour? What time was it any- oh. It was already 9? Time flies by fast.

“We need to get Shanayah out of here,” Arah stated grimly, letting go of my arm to crouch down (with a hand on the nearest wall for support) and observe the glass shards and blood on the floor. “I’ll stay here to guard Juneth’s body; the two of you, get Shanayah back to her room.”

“Are you going to be okay alone, Arah?” Rafael asked, eyes alight with poorly-masked concern for the Secretary who probably couldn’t defend herself right now properly.

Arah nodded. “Quite. It would be best if you left me here anyway; my, ah, lack of gracefulness would no doubt hinder you the way it hindered you prior to this.”

“… Well, okay…” Rafael slipped two arms under Shanayah before hoisting up the unconscious girl with little to no effort, Shanayah’s head lolling back as if she were nothing but a doll. Quite frankly I did think she _was_ nothing but a huge dress up Barbie, but I wouldn’t be telling her _that_ any time soon. “I’ll hand Shine over to James; he’ll know what to do.”

I glanced over to Juneth’s body. “Make sure that the scene of the crime isn’t tampered with should anyone come here, okay?”

“I will. Now go, Marc.” Arah grabbed at a chair and hoisted herself up on it before fixing herself up and sitting primly on it, shooing me and Raffy away. With Shine in his arms, Raffy made his way out, and I followed soon after, jogging down the stairs as quickly as possible, bypassing Jenita, who was still on the ground. She must have passed out; she wasn’t moving at all, besides the up and down movement of her chest which signified her breathing. Once we hit the ground floor, however, we bumped into Bonn, who looked as brash as ever, which confused me: didn’t Arah say that his ‘toughness’ had been taken away?

“Oof!” When I glanced behind him, I saw a mess of pure white hair: Nahangel. Those two were together again. “Bonn, why’d you sto- oh, good morning, Marc! Good morning Ra- why is Shanayah unconscious?”

Rafael glanced down at Shanayah, whose head lolled around a little as he shifted his hold on her so that they’d both be more comfortable. “She saw Juneth’s body and passed out.”

“Junjun’s dead?” Nahangel looked sad, while Bonn’s face literally said ‘quick-hide-your-dismay-with-stoicism’. “That’s… that’s sad. Who’s the other one who died? Monocat announced a dead body twice, right?”

I nodded before saying, “Aisley’s dead too. Up at M-44.”

“Ouch.” Nahangel blinked, then glanced at his still-quiet companion, eyeing him with scrutiny before elbowing him playfully, asking, “What’s up with you, strongman? Why’re you so quiet?”

I watched as Bonn’s forest green eyes glanced down at his bandaged hands. “… I just… can’t believe I can punch things properly again, man. Yesterday was so fucking hard on me; I couldn’t… I couldn’t even fucking make a dent on the bar of soap in the bathroom, man.”

“When did _that_ happen?” I asked skeptically, attempting to clear up my confusion with the question. “I mean, like, when did your, er, ability to punch things effectively, return to you?”

Bonn looked at me, wringing his hands. “Oh, probably ‘bout a few minutes before the announcement of the dead bodies. Surprised the living shit outta me when I tried to punch Angel’s arm jokingly and he winced before laughing.”

“It still kinda hurts, but I’m glad Bonn can punch things again.” Nahangel absently rubbed the upper part of his left arm before inquiring, “So, what’re you gonna do with Shine?”

Rafael answered, “Well, we were hoping to find James.”

“Why?”

“He’s her roommate, and I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to rummage around Shine’s pockets for her room key. For all I know she could be keeping her key in her very own VSP.”

“VSP?” I was puzzled.

“Victoria’s Secret Pocket.”

Immediately a searing blush crossed the Rulebreaker’s face, which he tried to hide behind bandaged hands, to no avail, because the Heir started panicking and questioning him what was wrong, attempting to remove his hands from his face, to no avail again. I raised an eyebrow when Rafael started laughing at Bonn before asking, “What’s the big deal with Victoria’s Secret Pocket?”

“Whose secret pocket?”

I blanched when I heard Daenna behind us, with shuffling that most likely denoted Arvin’s presence. Turning around slowly, I watched as the Princess descended the stairs with carefully practiced elegance, one hand on the railing, and the other poised daintily by her side. To be honest, it looked like those scenes in the movies where it was prom night and the guy in the suit’s like ‘where is she?’ and then the girl shows up at the top of the staircase looking all beautiful and angelic as she goes down. I could name a few movies with that kind of setup, buuuuuuuut now wasn’t the right time.

“G’morning, Daenna, Arvin!” Rafael tried to salute, but was reminded of the weight in his arms when Shanayah’s arm almost smacked his face. “Whoops. But anyway, hi.”

“What is this ‘secret pocket’ I am hearing about?” Daenna pressed, clasping her hands together once more, her eyes glittering in eagerness. “And who died? And why is dear Shine unconscious?”

“DeadpeopleShinesawoneandfainted,” Bonn babbled, his face still hidden behind his hands. His ears were red too. “GonnafindJayomaandethimtotakeherbacktotheirroomandshit.”

…

Arvin’s face was blanker than a sheet of paper about to go through the printer. Which… wasn’t much of a comparison, come to think of it. “… Riiiight. So uh-“

**_“PIM POM PAM PUUUUUM~! A dead body has been found! After a brief period of- wait, aren’t you bastards sick of this yet? I’ll just say if a dead body has been found, mroooowr~!”_ **

_Another_ dead body? But whose?

**_“Oh, and uh, only gonna say this once to everyone who’s concerned in the Lobby of the Main Building.”_** Monocat’s face showed up on the screen in the middle of all the trophies in the trophy cabinet. Who the hell puts a screen in a trophy cabinet, anyway? **_“This feed is limited to you bastards, a’ight? Nathan’s dead. Bordner buildin’ n’ shit, go check for yourselves, yadda yadda, Wilson’s passed out on the ground there, etcetera, Bismarck’s tryin’ ta pick the poor furricker up with Eugene, what else should I say, nya?”_**

Ah. So Nathan was dead as well. Arah won’t be too happy.

Abandoning the others – and the topic of Victoria’s Secret Pocket –, I ran towards the Bordner building, huffing, until I met up with Eugene and Bismarck, who were hauling away an unconscious Gamer. I saluted to the three of them, and Bismarck waved back until Eugene elbowed him to keep on going. Ascending the stairs to the right, I ran into the two nearest rooms, checking for Nathan.

Nope, not in B-25. Let me just-

Ah. There he was.

There was a trend with the bodies in this murder that I just noticed. All of them were pinned to maps in the school: Aisley, in Maceda’s map, Juneth, in Room 402’s map, and now Nathan in B-24’s map. I was surprised by the durability of the scissors holding him up, but when I looked closer, I saw that they were reinforced by other things such as tacks and staplewire and… glass shards? Either way, he was pinned quite hastily, but his palms were in precise locations on the map, speared by larger glass shards. Crucifixion seemed to be a thing, apparently. His glasses were on the floor, broken and twisted, while his red checkered neckerchief had been tied around his eyes; his mouth was open and traces of blood were near his mouth. He looked like he had vomited blood. His shirt, which had read ‘Hanamura Restaurant’, was barely recognizable due to the fact that the poor guy had been gutted messily near the stomach, similar to what had happened to Joshua, except… y’know, Nathan wasn’t on a turntable: he was on a map. What perplexed me, however, was the message on the wall painted around his body with his blood.

**_ ‘THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH JUST A TASTE OF WHAT YOU WERE ASKING FOR RIGHT NATHAN’ _ **

My eyes were barely pinhead sized, probably, as I stared at the message. Did… did Nathan piss someone off or something? Who would… who would be pissed off by such a person…? He tried to promote peace with Arah, didn’t he? So why… why would anyone…?

“Marc?”

“GWAAAH!” I screeched, bouncing back as Monocat pattered into the room, looking at Nathan with scrutiny before shrugging and staring up at me, one half of her face with a soulless black eye and the other with a bright red one. “Oh, it’s just you. What do you want?”

Monocat peered at Nathan once again before saying, “Did you notice the messages on the other dead bodies too?”

“There were messages there too?”

“Can’t believe you didn’t notice, meow…” Monocat looked depressed at the thought, slumping forward. “They were such meaningful messages too! Do you want me to relay them to you, since you didn’t notice them, apurrently?”

“Uh, sure…” I’m sure it didn’t have too much significance, anyway.

“Well…” Monocat paused, tapping the general area where one might find a chin on a human before purring, “Well, fur Juneth, the message on the walls was just repeatedly ‘ ** _DEATH_** ’. Like, think of that scene in Misao where HELP flashed all over the screen.”

“Huh?”

“Oops, furgot you commoners don’t play indie games~!” Monocat cackled befur- I MEAN BEFORE, BEFORE I SAY, BEFORE! – continuing, saying, “And for Aisley, the message was… erm… if I’m not meowstaken, and I’m pawsitive I’m not, since the murderer seems to be thinking along the same lines as me in terms of gruesomeness… well, the message was ‘ ** _THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE_** ’.”

There can… only be one?

“I don’t… understand…” I drew out slowly, trying to understand. Redundant, I know, but right now, all I could think of was _What do they mean, ‘there can only be one’?_

Monocat shrugged. “I’m not allowed to tell you until after the trial, silly billy! Well, I must be off!”

“Wait… why’d you tell me this? Why didn’t you tell, like, Bismarck and Eugene?”

“… You seemed like the one who would understand these better, anyway. You seem like the ‘hero’ of this broken fairy tale, anyway.” Monocat replied mysteriously before saluting and saying, “Sayonara, myaaa~!”

I barely had time to react before the notorious black and white cat ducked behind the door, and once I opened it, she was gone. I took a minute to process this before yelling in anguish, pulling at my hair, before sliding down to the ground, feeling absolutely lost.

What was her deal, anyway?! Calling me some ‘hero’ of a fairy tale… this wasn’t a fucking fairy tale, and I sure as hell wasn’t the ‘hero’ of it…

**_Hey. You alright, bro?_ **

Leave me alone.

**_Monocat getting all up in your grill again?_ **

Please, just… just leave me alone…

**_Hey, I’m you, remember? I couldn’t leave you even if I wanted to, and besides, I understand what you’re feeling right now._ **

**_No, really. And Marc, you gotta remember man; just because you’re not the hero of this broken fairy tale or whatevershit doesn’t mean you can’t make an impact on the story._ **

…

**_I KNOW it’s not a fairy tale or whatnot, but man… don’t get so affected by it. What is it about the word ‘hero’ that pisses you off?_ **

I… I’m not a hero. I never was. Real heroes don’t let their friends get killed. And now look; they’re dead.

**_Don’t you think that the others feel that way too?_ **

Huh?

**_Dara and Eugene especially. The Leader and the President respectively. Don’t you think that they feel that way too? Don’tcha think they don’t feel like heroes too? They had to watch the others die too, y’know… at least, Dara had to until she died herself, but yeah, you get my drift right?_ **

I… I don’t…

**_Eugene’s the guy everyone’s turning to right now since he’s the President and Dara’s gone. The guy can barely handle it, I can tell. He’s not used to this much responsibility, trying to keep you guys alive._ **

…

**_Marc, listen. I’mma gonna be blunt with you and say man the fuck up. Don’t let Monocat mess you up this bad, or I’LL mess you up instead. She’s crazy as fuck and probably has a hairball stuck up her butt. Man, treat us right. Don’t lose it._ **

Heh… okay… if you say so… Marc.

**_Shadow Marc’s fine, remember?_ **

Yeah… thanks, really.

**_Sure thing._ **

Once his voice faded from my mind, I stood up, feeling leagues better. I mean, sure, I was still sad about the deaths, but after investigation, we could get the perpetrator executed and keep everyone safe. The murderer will be given only a sliver of mercy, probably; the murder this time was really, really _gruesome_.

Making my way back to the Main Building, I was briefly reminded of the fact that Jenita was probably still passed out on the third floor, and decided to go and check on her, passing by a still bright red Bonn and a concerned Nahangel, who now seemed to understand Victoria’s Secret Pocket and was now just patting Bonn’s back in reassurance.

Not that I knew what VSP was, anyway. I could ask them later.

Climbing up – I FUCKING HATE STAIRS CAN I JUST DO AWAY WITH THEM RIGHT NOW – the stairs, I paused upon the realization that no, Jenita was gone. Fairly reasonable; she probably woke up, or somebody already brought her down. However, the scent of blood was quite noticeable in the area, which made me suspicious.

Allowing my sense of scent to guide me, I was led to the library, where –

Holy. Son of a. FUCK.

I had forgotten about the map in the library. I HAD FUCKING FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE MAP IN THE LIBRARY.

Normally pristine white dress shirt now stained a bright red; his back was turned to me, revealing the stab marks near the area where his heart would have been. His arms were extended, pinned to either side of him as if he was pinning someone to the wall, but I knew better. His hat was on the floor, slowly soaking up the blood he was dripping, and his black pants were torn, as were his sleeves; he must have fought back. There was a large bleeding gash on the back of his head that most likely extended to the front, and like everyone else… there was a message painted with his blood.

I didn’t get to read it, however, because by then… I had passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you know who murdered them or have an intelligent guess then you're free to message me at my tumblr: classycloudcuckoolanderclasso.tumblr.com
> 
> or yknow you can ask me if i have any plans to continue the id cards or if you want to see the designs of those i haven't drawn yet yeah


	25. Valley of the Souls: Abnormal Days - Mors Vincit Omnia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bAH THIS CHAPTER WAS LONG OVERDUE
> 
> But anyway hi yeah tbh this arc is my favorite arc for some reason because haHAHAHA DAVE IS DEAD I'VE ALWAYS WANTED HIM DEAD TO STIR UP SHIT BUT HEY AT LEAST THE TRIAL'S NEXT
> 
> Also if you manage to capture the 1000 hits thing for whatchumacallit? A kiriban? Yeah if you do that I'll write or draw you a thing involving anything Kepler Ronpa related yay

**[03: VALLEY OF THE SOULS – ABNORMAL DAYS – MORS VINCIT OMNIA]**

**< INVESTIGATION START>**

**_…_ **

**_… arc…_ **

**_... ake u…_ **

**_Ma… wake…_ **

What…?

**_Marc… wake UP!_ **

“Gwa-?!”

My eyes shot open, and immediately, I sat up, inciting shrieks from Ana, who had been hovering over me prior – she was the first person I saw while I was still lying down, so that was the most likely assumption.

“Marc, are you okay?” A concerned voice to my right said. Turning in their direction, I discovered with a start that it was Rosemary, whose eyes were filled with confusion and uncertainty. “Jenita saw you pass out on the floor thirty minutes ago.”

“Thirty… minutes ago…?” I was out _that_ long? But wh- oh.

A small gaggle of my classmates surrounded him, but otherwise, I could still recognize the mop of curly golden brown hair, even with the head turned around. My heart crawled up into my throat before choosing to shatter itself into a million pieces at the sight, and involuntarily a wail erupted from me, startling Ana into a short bout of distressed sobbing, which made the others turn their attention away from Dave’s body. Arah soothingly patted my back as I started to cry, sobs wracking my body relentlessly as I mourned the death of who would have probably become one of my closest guy friends in this whole damn school; to the sides of his body, Charles and Rafael were investigating the map and the message, which I could now read.

**_ ‘LET’S PLAY A GAME. I HAVE MADE MY IDENTITY OBVIOUS, BUT IF YOU DON’T PAY ATTENTION, YOU’RE GONNA GET YOUR JUST DESSERTS!’ _ **

It was Eugene who began prodding the body, performing some sort of autopsy with Wilson, who was currently attempting to remove Dave’s body from the map, carefully pulling away the various sharp implements that had kept him hanging on the wall, which included a knife, a particularly large shard of glass, a pair of _insanely_ large scissors, and a rather odd looking piece that looked vaguely like a letter opener. Mika was sitting dutifully near the bookshelves, looking rather disinterested, James hovering over her anxiously, while Arvin was poring over the book Ina had been reading intently with Daenna.

Ah… that’s right… where _was_ Ina? Didn’t she borrow that book?

“Whoa…!”

I – along with the rest of the people in the room – turned to look at Wilson and Eugene and the body. Wilson was shaking, while Eugene was visibly redder than normal, only not from embarrassment - this time, it was obviously fear and frustration. I opened my mouth, ready to ask what made them both exclaim out loud, when Wilson mutely removed the knife from the back of Dave’s right palm, allowing the Secret Agent’s arm to flop to the side. However, just before it flopped down, I saw something else flop down first.

My eyes widened. There was another arm that fell from the hold of the knife, and it certainly didn’t belong to Dave.

A strangled sound came from Arah, and I watched intently as the Secretary stood up slowly, moving closer to the murder scene and the corpse, trying as hard as she could not to stumble in her state. Everyone watched quietly as she reached up, pulling out the pair of scissors embedded into Dave’s right leg as quickly as possible, flipping his body to the side to reveal his face – whose eyes were closed, a rather peaceful smile on his face - before screaming. Loudly. And for good reason too.

“Oh… my God…” Rosemary’s voice was strained, but it held all the thoughts and emotions we were feeling at the moment.

You want to know what happened?

See, the first time around, I had said that Dave’s arms were positioned in such a way that it looked like he was pinning something to the wall whilst being pinned to the wall, but I also said that I knew better. Oh, how _wrong_ I was.

“I-I-I…” For once, Charles was speechless, a hand covering his mouth. Rafael had promptly fallen over, unconscious. “I don’t… I don’t believe it…”

Trapped behind Dave’s dead body… was none other than the Super High School Level Mathematician, Nazarina Tercero, hanging from the same shard of glass that now pierced Dave’s left palm, except it pierced through her sleeve instead. Lucky her. Or was it unlucky her? I had no idea.

“Quickly, get rid of the other things keeping them there!” Eugene instructed, pulling out the letter opener on Dave’s left leg while Wilson hurriedly pulled out the shard of glass – albeit with caution, the two bodies falling to the floor in a heap, with Ina’s body on the bottom, and Dave’s on the top. I could only watch, frozen, as Arah immediately shoved Dave’s body to the side, brushing away the hair that had covered Ina’s right eye, only to scream again.

“Christ, what is it with you and screaming?” Arvin grumbled, still poring over the book while supporting Daenna, who looked rather pale at the sight of Ina.

I stood up this time, moving closer, only to recoil as well when I saw that there was a large black void instead of the place where Ina’s right eye might have been. Oh. Oh God. It was terrifying. Ina’s other eye was closed, so I didn’t have anything to compare it to, but oh sweet feathered angel cupcakes served on silver platters in Heaven’s banquet, this was _horrible._

“Who would…” Arah choked back a sob, tucking a lock of hair behind Ina’s ear as she brushed her hand against the still fresh blood near Ina’s missing eye. “Who would… WHO WOULD DO SUCH A HORRIBLE THING?!”

Eugene knelt down beside the Secretary, who was already shaking, her whole body being wracked with tears, taking a hold of one of Ina’s hands – boy, were they _tiny_ compared to his – and checking for a pulse, just to confirm something. I could hear Jenita nearby muttering, “No use; she’s dead, that’s fur sure,” which made me wonder a bit, before Eugene exclaimed once more, “Guys… there’s still a pulse!”

“Huh? Are you serious?!” Rosemary’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “Then we gotta get her to the clinic, and fast!”

**_“JUUUUUST A MOMEEEENT~!”_ **

Monocat popped out from out of nowhere – _again_ – like a madwoman, giggling. “I’m actually getting kinda sick of you guys stumbling around without your most important aspects of yourself, so I’ve decided: I’m returning them all to you now!”

“But, didn’t you say that you wouldn’t let them come back until after the trial?” Wilson asked, his arms crossed.

Charles snapped his fingers. “ _Nein._ She only said she would return them after a murder. Technically, she was answering Arah’s question back then, but it still leads to the immutable fact that those who lost what is precious to them will get them back after the murder. And this is the end of a murder, and the beginning of a trial.”

“Coooorrectamundo, my adorable little Translator!” Monocat patted Charles’s thigh with a paw. “Man, you sure are smart! Why can’t you all be more like my Translator, hm hm?”

The boy stepped away at least twenty inches away. “Don’t touch me.”

“… Right, well…” Monocat did a sort of gesture that reminded me of the gesture used in Dragon Ball Z for the… what was it, the ‘kamehameha’ or something? Ah, whatever, it was something about ham. Or Tim Tams? I didn’t know for sure. I didn’t watch Dragon Ball Z as much as I watched other animes. With a spin and a bow, Monocat threw her paws up into the air, saying, “I summon thee, Leech Lives! Return what is not yours to those who have lost!”

And just like that, the little bottles around the necks of mostly everyone in the room shattered and fell to the ground, the little wisps inside dissipating into thin air. And just like that, everyone who had lost something had gained them once again. Whatever Jenita had lost had come back, because she had backed away against a wall, her mismatched eyes wide with surprise, her sleeves covering her large Cheshire Cat smile. A short rendition of _‘But would it be enoooough to go byyy if my love could keep you alive?’_ alerted me to the return of James’s voice, and when I turned around, I saw a sudden onset of color cross Mika’s face as her emotions returned, James immediately embracing her when he realized it to be true. Wilson’s chest had puffed out in pride that he had whatever he lost back, and Ina…

I froze the moment I looked back. Ina was shifting, her one working eye blinking wearily before she screamed loudly, probably registering the pain only just now. Hurriedly, Eugene scooped her up in his arms before running to the clinic, Arah hot on their heels, hands still bloody. Wilson himself, however, was observing what appeared to be the holes in the map, his eyes narrowed.

“You know, someone who fainted at a murder scene should really look at the facts first.”

I jumped, turning around to see who had said that. Bea was standing there, putting most of her weight on one leg, a hand on her waist as she waved her Student ID around like a red flag. Her face held a look of incredulity. “You haven’t looked at your Student ID card yet, have you? The newest Monocat File is out.”

Ah… that’s right. Every murder had a new Monocat File for viewing on our IDs.

Usually, I never looked at my Student ID, except during investigations. So I never really saw when people were newly crossed out. Bringing out my Student ID – God knows how I managed to remember to bring it along this time – I noted the newly crossed out pictures of Andrea Embuscado, Joan Setias, Dara Ilaya, and Ellianna Areola. From what I observed, the pictures only became crossed out after the trial and execution, so, as expected, Aisley, Dave, Nathan and Juneth still had their pictures in full color, with no crosses on them whatsoever. Sighing, I tapped on the arrow that blinked, signifying the new Monocat Files.

The victims were Nathan Cordero, Aisley Pondevida, Juneth Magbanua, and Dave Anatalio.

Times of death varied. Aisley at an appalling 3:45, Juneth at 4:37, Nathan at 6:29, and Dave at 8:52.

Victims were found in different places. Aisley, pinned to M-44’s map, Juneth, pinned to Room 402’s map, Nathan, pinned to B-24’s map, and finally, Dave, pinned to the library’s map.

Causes of death were similar, but each had distinct differences. Aisley had been impaled on something very sharp from behind, while Juneth had had a heavy object slammed directly on her head. Nathan had been poisoned before being gutted, and Dave had had the back of his head sliced open before he pierced straight through the heart with a long and sharp implement.

I raised an eyebrow at the new tab blinking on the corner. Biting my lip, I tapped it, expecting the worst… only to get a tab now labeled ‘FATALITY’. It turned out that the fatality tab was a tab for the more dire injuries received by people who were still alive but had gone through injuries that should _not_ have allowed them to survive. It fit, considering that fatality was a synonym for ‘death’. These included Mika - who was listed as ‘FUNCTIONING’, with her ‘fatality’ being her burning – and Reymon – his ‘fatality’ was ‘broken ribs, black eye, etc.’ – and even Justine – his ‘fatality’ was listed as ‘???’, surprisingly. The latest entry, however, belonged to Ina, whose name was currently flashing a violent red, and whose ‘fatality’ was ‘missing eye, major blood loss, destruction of important veins near hand, etc.’…

I closed the tab, unable to bear looking at it any longer, before returning to look at the crime scene. Most of the others had cleared out, Arvin and Daenna currently in the middle of exiting the library. Arvin had the book he had been reading tucked under his arm, while Daenna was holding a small, rather thin book that looked closer to a notebook than anything from where I was standing. The only people left were Wilson, Bea and Charles, the latter two investigating Dave’s body, while Wilson was staring intently at the map, as if it held all the answers.

“…” Bea looked deep in thought, examining the wound on the back of Dave’s head with next to zero regard for the blood that was slowly staining her fingers a gruesome red before staring at the things that had been used to keep him pinned to the map, her eyes narrowing. Charles, meanwhile, was lifting sharp objects primly to the wound that pierced straight through Dave’s body, measuring them to see if they fit the size of said wound, to no avail, since most of them were either too big or too small to perform the act.

“So, what’ve you guys found out?” I asked, kneeling down beside them, a hand ghosting over Dave’s now cold one. Dave…

Charles looked up; pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he replied rather tautly, “ _La plaie a été faite par un crochet. Cette partie montre ici que l'objet traîné à l'intérieur de lui pour un peu avant de quitter le point d'entrée.”_ He moved his fingers and moved the cloth near the wound on his chest – the entry point – to show a distinct jagged area where the cut wasn’t clean.

“… Erm, I don’t think I understood you, Charles…” I confessed, rubbing the back of my head.

The Translator groaned, giving me a look which clearly said ‘are you fucking kidding me?’ before translating rather resignedly, “The wound was made by a hook. This part shows where the object dragged him inside for a bit before leaving the point of entry.”

 _“Pas beaucoup peuvent comprendre le français, Charles,”_ Bea murmured, brushing away some of the hair from Dave’s face and sighing sadly. “Dave… it was bad enough he was murdered, but they tried to get Ina too?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You speak French?”

“Had to learn how to argue with the conductors in Europe somehow, you know,” She told me, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before adjusting her glasses. “Those guys were literally twats dressed up with sticks up their asses.”

I snorted in laughter before a thought suddenly occurred to me. “Speaking of which, maybe Ina had been targeted first, but Dave rushed in to protect her?”

“… Maybe…?” Bea looked rather pleased at the thought. “Ah, to be loved like that… with all the pureness of one’s heart… to be able to rush to someone’s aid just like that with zero regard for the self…”

“I personally find that rather compromising. What guarantees that they will return the favor?” Charles replied cynically, lifting the glass shard to the wounds one last time before groaning in frustration and tossing it at the floor. “Ugh, none of these fit the wounds at all!”

The Musician gave the Translator a dirty look, peeking over at the wound before saying dryly, “Well, like you said, the object was dragged inside him before it exited. It’s kinda obvious from the first look that none of the items used to pin Dave to the map were the murder weapon.” As she spoke, she glanced up at Wilson, who was currently jotting down notes on his hand, brow furrowed as he studied what he had written intently. Curious, I stood up and approached him, just as Bea asked, “What’re you up to, Wilson?”

“I have a theory based on that message in blood…” The Gamer muttered, still looking at what he had written. “… But I’ll need to check the other murder scenes first. Marc, can ya help a guy out?”

“Huh? Me?” I pointed at myself in confusion.

Wilson gave me a look. “No, I clearly mean someone else since there’s more than one of you in this room right now- _yes I mean you fuckass._ God, you’re like a newbie who walked into the wrong room in League of Legends.”

“…” I couldn’t really reply because my face had turned red, but otherwise I followed the Gamer outside of the library, bidding a hasty farewell to Bea and Charles, who appeared to currently be cursing in what was either Pig Latin or Galician at the blood currently staining his right sleeve. I didn’t really recognize the language.

Any _waaaaay…_

Wilson was currently heading towards the library, the hand without writing in his pocket, and the hand _with_ writing left hanging out. Pacing myself, I soon matched him step for step, and for a few minutes, everything was quiet as we turned right and then climbed up the stairs, headed for Aisley’s area. However, I could soon hear him mumbling something. “…rry…”

“Hm?” I glanced at him in a confused manner.

 

“… said…” Wilson looked away, and, much to my surprise, I saw his face slowly turn red. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, I couldn’t tell right away. “… m’sorry…”

“Sorry…?” I eyed him curiously. “What for?”

The Gamer turned redder, scratching the back of his head rather awkwardly as he huffed a little forcedly, running his fingers through his grayish-green hair. “… For… y’know… punchin’ ya… the first time we met. Wasn’t really a good first impression n’ all…”

Huh? What did he- oh. The memory of him knocking me out because he was getting agitated due to Charles’s stuck-up attitude during the first day instantly came back to the forefront of my mind, and for a moment, I stopped in my tracks, remembering the day semi-fondly. That day… everyone was still alive, and nobody had any motive to kill anyone. They were all introducing themselves… and everybody had been radiating waves of general courteousness to each other… at least, that’s what I think happened. Maybe I’m just making everything more cheery.

I must’ve made some sort of face, because Wilson immediately turned redder. “I-I’m sorry, okay?! G-god… don’t look at me like that… s’makin’ me feel all disgusted with myself and all…”

“Wilson…” I shoved my hands in my pockets, looking at him sideways, my head tilted. “Y’know… I didn’t really remember you punching me until you reminded me of it. I mean…” The corners of my mouth quirked up a little. “… it’s just a silly punch, right?”

He stared at me, both with incredulity and a small spark of hope, and I grinned at him, chuckling. “Wilson, you don’t need to say sorry to me. You were mad at Charles, and… it just kinda… y’know, took over you for a moment there, right?”

“… Guess so… but I still ruined your face somehow, right?” The Gamer looked rather flustered now, tugging on his collar and making a few swallowing gestures. “’Sgotta mean that I can’t be forgiven by you.”

I shook my head just as we ascended the final step. “Wilson, let me get this clear. I _forgive_ you. Past is past, let bygones be bygones; I didn’t remember you punching me until you reminded me, and if that happened, then that means I have forgiven you. So cheer up, okay?” I punched his shoulder playfully. “Besides, Charles can make _anyone_ mad.”

**_Oh, Alpha Marc. I wish you took your own advice._ **

_What’s up with you now?_

**_‘Past is past, let bygones be bygones’, and yet you still can’t let go of Aiel._ **

_Well, that wouldn’t be honoring her memory, now, would it? I haven’t forgotten about the others either!_

**_Marc, sooner or later, you gotta let her go. Let her memory fly with the wind, because maybe, what you actually need is standing in front of you._ **

I stared at Wilson, who was currently staring off, still looking rather embarrassed. _Oh God, you don’t mean Wilson, do you?_

**_HELL NO._ **

_Good because that is just WEIRD. Just saying._

**_He’s a great guy. Brofriend material, A++. Boyfriend material for you? Ehhhh, not really._ **

_Are we really talking about this?! We’re in the middle of an investigation!_

**_Then get to it, bub! He’s already heading inside!_ **

I snapped out of my internal argument with my shadow, and just like he said, Wilson was already halfway inside the door to the room with Aisley’s body. This time, only Bismarck and John Paul were there, doing the same thing Charles was doing prior to this: measuring things against the final wound, which looked rather small from the front, but I knew it was bigger on the other side of her body.

“…” Wilson, still redfaced, pushed forward and shoved both of the boys out of the way, yanking out the two halves of a pair of scissors from her palms before moving aside, letting the body hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor; let the bodies hit the- okay I went off track holy shit. Bismarck leaned over to catch her with outstretched arms as Wilson rubbed away at the blood staining the map fervently.

“What’re you doing, Wilson?” John Paul asked, relieving Bismarck of Aisley’s body by taking her in his arms and carrying her carefully, an arm supporting her legs and the other supporting her back, her arms hanging lifelessly.

Wilson furiously scrubbed at the blood with his fingers, sweat beading his brow. “I need…” Now that I was staring properly at the map, he was aiming for the spots where the things used to crucify Aisley had pierced through. “To figure shit out for myself- ah, there we go!”

The Gamer stepped back, looking rather pleased with himself before writing down something yet again on his palm. Curious, I stepped over, peering over his shoulder at what he had been writing.

**_I               T              R               A_ **

Itra? Trai? Rait? Rati? I had no idea what was going on. It was probably an anagram; that was usually the most logical idea when it came to random letters on someone’s palm. But then again, I could be wrong.

I blinked, and within moments, Wilson was already gone, the only remnants of his stay here in this room being the fact that the door was wide open, the fingerprints on the map, and Bismarck and John Paul staring off after him, mouths in ‘o’ shapes. I blinked yet again, and then bid a hasty farewell to both the Latecomer and the Chessmaster, bursting through the doorway and making a sharp left turn, thudding down the stairs as if my life depended on it. Wilson could be on the verge of figuring out this mystery, and I fucking lost track of him. Good job, me.

**_Yes, excellent job._ **

_What do you want NOW?_

**_I’d just like to point out that I’ve already figured out who did it while you were mulling about following Wilson._ **

_WHAT?!_

**_Mmhm. To be honest, the first time I saw it while you were looking at it, I wasn’t really sure. But now that you looked at Wilson’s writing, I figured it out._ **

_…_

**_Why so quiet?_ **

_… Care to actually TELL ME who it is?_

_WHY NOT!?_

**_Cause that’ll make things too easy. You know Wilson likes games._ **

_KILLING games?_

**_Well of course not the ones where he could really get himself killed, of course. But games with mysteries… anagrams… puzzle decoding… that sorta thing._ **

_So it WAS an anagram?_

**_No, I just mentioned that because that’s an example of a thing that Wilson probably likes that falls under the ‘mystery’ genre. Ever heard of Mystery Case Files?_ **

_Uh… yeah? Obviously?_

**_Right, right, you’re me, I’m you. Of course we’ve played that. But you probably didn’t remember until now, huh?_ **

_God you’re starting to sound like an annoying prick. Is this how I sound like to everyone else?_

**_Nah, you’re good. I’m the mental manifestation of that ‘darker’ side of you; the annoying, naggy, self-absorbed prick side of yours._ **

_… Basically you’re me, with Charles-born traits._

_Ugh, good grief. But… will you tell me if everything else fails, Shadow Marc? Please? Only as a last resort._

**_Fiiiine. But only because you said please._ **

_Speaking of which, don’t we share the same memories?_

**_Technically we do, but… seeing as that we are also technically separate from each other, except I exist only in your mind and on special reflective surfaces, if we see the same thing and interpret it differently from each other, then you won’t know unless I tell you or vice versa._ **

_But you’re… inside my mind. Are you saying you have a mind within my mind?_

**_Some paradoxical shit, but yeah, pretty much. Now get back to investigating, weirdo. You’re standing in the middle of the Amadome having no progress whatsoever._ **

Huh?

I blinked, fading back into the present, finding myself… in the middle of the Amadome?! How did I get there from the fourth floor of Maceda?!

**_Christ, you should really pay attention to your surroundings._ **

_Well, ex-CUSE me for talking to you thinking it was important!_

**_And it WAS important and educational for you. Now go back to investigating… no, wait, better yet, go check on Ina in the clinic. That’s something you should do. To progress this story and actually get somewhere instead of investigating random objects like say potted plants and getting random Monocoins from it to put in the Mono Mono Machine._ **

_… What the fuck._

**_You didn’t hear anything. Get back to work, idiot._ **

Following his… rather weird but somehow sensible advice, since I was already on the ground floor, it didn’t take me long before I entered the clinic, which was surprisingly wide open this time. Inside, I found Arah hovering worriedly next to Ina’s bedside, the smaller girl hooked up to a lot of what were most likely IVs that Monocat provided since she continued to be alive for more than thirty minutes after being found profusely bleeding and missing an eye. Traces of medical equipment and what looked like wires _and_ a long sleeved red shirt hanging from the back of a chair told me that Justine was, or had been, here previously, but was currently absent, instead leaving the injured to the Secretary, who looked like a mother doting on a child.

“Arah?” The Secretary jumped, and when she turned to face me, I could see her trying to mask the obvious worry and concern she had for the Mathematician currently lying unconscious on the bed with an indifferent look and a ghost of a smile. “Ah, Marc… what brings you here? Come to check up o-on Ina perhaps?”

The slight stutter made me raise an eyebrow, but otherwise I didn’t comment on it, coming closer and observing the current status of the girl. Her chest rose and fell at odd intervals, but otherwise she was breathing. One of her hands was severely bandaged compared to the other one, and the area – the gaping hole – where her right eye had once been had been cleaned, only enough to see the insides.

Not that I looked too hard. I’d probably puke on the spot if I did.

Arah placed a hand on top of Ina’s bandaged one, sighing in a depressed manner. “Ina… who would…”

“Hey… Ina’s gonna make it.” I placed a hand on Arah’s shoulder in reassurance, smiling at her. “She’ll… probably be disoriented, walking around with only one eye to see now… but she’ll be okay. I just know it.”

“I know that…” The girl’s voice wavered, and for a moment, I thought she was going to cry. “… But what I want to know… is who would even… _do something as depraved as this…”_ The hand that wasn’t holding Ina’s shook as it clenched into a fist. “To not only kill four people… but to mutilate her like this as well…? Why…?”

“That’s why we have a trial, Arah.”

I visibly flinched backwards as Eugene stepped out from God knows where, staring at Arah with serious but calm rust colored eyes. Had the President been in the room this whole time without me noticing? Impossible; he, like Arah, had fair skin, and would have stood out even a little in the darkness. The President looked unsettlingly grim, but otherwise he placed a hand on Arah’s shoulder in a similar gesture to mine, stating firmly, but reassuringly, “The trial exists to bring justice to all who had been murdered unjustly and in an unrighteous manner, and to shed light on the culprits. Whatever happens… we’ll find out who killed Juneth and the others.”

“But what if we _don’t_?” For some reason, my skin crawled when I heard the note of despair ringing in Arah’s voice. “Eugene, you must know that there is always that possibility that-“

“- no one will figure it out, and the murderer will go free. I know, I know. But,” At this he smiled. Y’know, for a Filipino guy with freckles, he sure smiles nice. Not that I’m saying people with freckles don’t smile nice, of course. Everyone smiles wonderfully and freckles look good on anyone and- I should stop. I should stop rambling. Nobody can even hear me. “If there’s still a chance, I’m willing to bet my life on it. As Marc would probably say… you must not lose hope.”

… That’s actually a pretty accurate statement.

“He’s right. Don’t lose hope!” I grinned widely, hoping to pep her up. “We’re gonna figure this shit out, and then we’ll figure out how to get out of here without any more casualties! And then everything will be fine!”

“But everyone else will still be dead,” were Arah’s harsh but quiet words, which struck a silent chord in the hearts of all who heard her. The number being two, but still. The smell of isopropanol was heavy in the air as somebody entered the room, saying, “I got what I needed, now get ou- oh. Marc. You’re here.”

I turned around, and immediately did a rather sharp intake of breath because for fuck’s sakes Justine was shirtless. Granted, he still had the short sleeved blue jacket thing on, but other than that the Cyborg was technically shirtless. No, he didn’t have an attractive torso, to get _that_ out of the way. It was just that… I could clearly see the inhuman side of him right now, currently exposed to the elements. There was a section that clearly looked like it could open and close on his chest, and things that looked like blue LED lights that were ripped straight outta TRON ran across his chest. I’m surprised it didn’t glow through his red shirt, but then again the light was slightly faint.

“Justine, what’re you up to?” I asked him as he pushed past me to sit next to Ina and the medical equipment, clutching something that I couldn’t see. “What’s that?”

“None of your business, Alelis,” was the cold reply. I harrumphed, miffed, turning away, before I heard him sigh and say, “… alright, fine, sorry. But seriously, it’s none of your business until it’s over. And… tell Monocat I’ll be missing this trial again.”

“Again?! She’ll flip!” I protested as I turned back around to face him. “Justine, this is the third trial you’ve missed _in a row._ Monocat’s not going to be happy.”

The Attorney gazed up and met my eyes, and for what I assumed was a whole thirty seconds, we stared at each other, his cold ones boring into the back of my head. Finally, however, he spoke, saying, “It’s not like I actually investigated, anyway. I wouldn’t be much help.”

“You’re the _Super High School Level Attorney._ You’d probably figure it out even without investigating just by combining what everyone else said!”

“… While I am considerably flattered that you think so highly of me… I don’t think that’s possible. And besides,” The boy looked back at Ina. “Monocat has no right to be mad at me. She started this killing game, and if I don’t attend her trials because of it, then she can’t get mad. I’m going to save a life again, and this time…” His gaze hardened. “I’ll do even better.”

 _This time?_ I pondered quietly. _Did that mean he…?_

Justine’s head abruptly snapped up once more as he looked at me. “Marc, you should go.”

“What? Why-“

**_“Puuuurrriiim pom pam puuuum~! Alright, my lovely children! It’s time for the class trial of life and death! For this one, please head up to the swimming pool and make sure to keep yourselves dry! No swimsuits or change of clothes needed, mrrrowwwr~!”_ **

In the swimming pool, huh? What was she up to now?

Eugene exited the clinic, followed by a still morose, but more lively Arah, and finally, me, closing the door behind me as I followed both President and his Secretary up to the roof of Maceda, where most of us had already gathered. A few were staring cautiously at the pool’s pristine waters, while the others were milling about aimlessly. Kyle himself was sitting on the edge of the pool, his feet dipped in, while his sandals sat next to him. Arvin was sitting on a lounge chair, the tall conical collar of his unzipped down to the point near his chest, revealing the face that was hidden for so long, which was currently sweating bullets, probably at the prospect of the trial.

“Well then, is efurrypawdy here~?”

I was not in the least bit surprised when Monocat suddenly popped up behind me, striding past me as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, purring in contentment. “Hmhm, looks like you’re all complete for – no, wait, where’s Aspurrah?”

“He’s not attending again.” Eugene affirmed.

Monocat was silent for a few moments before shrugging. “Hmph. Fine. Mistpurr grumpy shirtless pants can stay in the clinic and do whatefur he wants to Ina. Howefur, the rest of you are not excused from the trial! Let us commence with our transportation!”

I waited quietly, expecting some sort of bubble or sea monster thing to come out of the pool – Monocat was strange – to take us to the next courtroom, but what I _didn’t_ expect was the fucking ‘principal’ literally pushing us into the pool, giggling, “Have a nice trip~!” just before we all splashed into the pool.

I was engulfed with a feeling of helplessness as the water got into my hoodie and my shirt and my pants and my _everything,_ struggling against the cotton constraints. Around me, I could see the others struggling as well; Mika looked close to drowning with her poofy skirt and her long braids,  while Juis flapped around like a weird seal, trying to get a grip and steady herself underwater. Rafael looked like he was fretting about his hair underneath the water, of all things to do, and Kyle…

Kyle was swimming like a dolphin all around us.

The Swimmer looked right at home, darting in between Wilson and Bonn and under Daenna’s floating skirts, much to the Princess’s embarrassment, though I’m pretty sure Kyle didn’t particularly care about what was under there; I think he was just showing off. I don’t blame him, really.

Feeling a distinct lack of actual air left inside my lungs, I struggled for the surface, and soon, I broke free, gasping for breath, paddling frantically towards the gutter and pulling myself up, soaking wet, and panting, brushing away the hair from my eyes as I watched the others surface as well, wheezing and choking on the water as they pushed themselves up onto the gutter. Kyle, however, surfaced in the middle of the pool, laughing his considerably cute ‘dolphin laugh’, only to pause, staring at his surroundings in awe.

It was then that I noticed that no, this was _definitely not the roof of the Maceda building._

Our third trial courtroom was fashioned in a weird, bric a brac manner, with the floor surrounding the pool made of black and white tiles patterned like a chessboard, while the walls were light blue with small curls and wisps of white to depict clouds. However, it wasn’t as noticeable compared to the banners that hung all around, depicting what I could only describe as symbols from notable series.

I saw Mika approach the one that had a mouse with a lazy eye, while Jenita seemed to be gravitating towards one of a screwdriver that was ‘glowing’, and Wilson was going to the one that had the ‘Left 4 Dead’ symbol on it. I myself approached the one that symbolized the ‘Angel’ of Angel Beats, running my fingers on the fabric. Kanade…

“How do you like my new court room, hmmm~?” I turned, and saw Monocat perched on her tall chair, only this time it was customized to look like a throne of swords… sort of like the one in Game of Thrones. The cat appeared to be holding a pot of ‘hunny’, probably to symbolize Winnie the Pooh (even though it’s absurd since she’s a fucking Mono _cat,_ not a Mono _bear_ – not that those actually existed, probably, but meh) as she said, “It caters to everyone’s favorite things, like, say, Percy Jackson,” I saw Arvin visibly flinch. “And Princess Diaries,” It was Shanayah who moved this time, hands trailing down that of a banner with a tiara. “And even Barbie, mrowhahahaha~!” I blinked in surprise when I saw _Nahangel_ move consciously towards Bonn, who was eyeing the one with a League of Legends insignia on it.

Jenita growled, “Just get on with it, Monocat. The trial needs to finish quickly, mrooww…”

“Ah, a girl after my own heart, nyahahaha~!” The catty principal swooned before declaring, “Alright, furrickers, get into place! Your ID cards should have the symbol you are supposed to stand on!” She gestured to the floor, where indeed, there were symbols scattered all around.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my ID card, which, as it turned out, had a gray Cancer symbol blinking on it. I looked around, and upon spotting it, stood on it, and the symbol on my ID disappeared, leaving me to watch as the others took their places. I noted the addition of the portraits all around, and I sighed, feeling a little depressed, before shaking my head. No, this wasn’t the time to despair, this was the time to get the deceased the justice they deserved!

**_Are you ready, Marc?_ **

_As… ready as I’ll ever be. Don’t forget, you’ll tell me if all other options are gone, okay?_

**_Don’t rely on me too much, man. I’m not your crutch._ **

_I know… but… still._

**_… Alright. But Marc, always remember…_ **

_Remember what?_

**_Don’t let them shoot you down with their words. Refute them with arguments like you would fire a machine gun. Endless argumentations, no pauses. For each argument toss them another one. Initiate a machine gun talk battle if you have to. Press triangle to clear out noise, press the square button to shoot._ **

_What the FUCK are you even talking about?!_

**_Just GO!_ **

“Let the trial begin, meowtherfuckers!” Monocat slammed her paw on a red button sitting on her throne, giggling maniacally. “Let’s get this party started~!”

** TRIAL TIME… ALL RISE! **

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

**25/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**

****


	26. All We Want Is Your Soul - At Vitae Haesit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no excuse for this being late and crappy but anyway
> 
> i'll be taking a short break from kepler ronpa to write other stuff but i'll still be posting kr related things on my blog yay

“Let’s start this trial out by laying out what you bastards know, shall we?” Monocat giggled, jumpstarting the trial conversation.

Bismarck counted on his fingers. “Well, we know for one that they were all pinned to the wall in a gruesome manner using various sharp objects.”

“Crucifixion, to be precise,” Charles crossed his arms and stuck out the arm crossed on the top in a ‘dare you try me?’ fashion, waving it around as he continued, saying, “Which by far is such a blatant disrespect to the religion who sees the symbol of crucifixion as a sacrifice made by-“

“Aw, can it, Charlie, not now. You can preach after the trial. Now,” Attention turned to his roommate, Bea, who looked rather serious compared to how she usually looked; calm, cool and collected. Adjusting her lenses, she declared, “First thing we should figure out as usual are the murder weapons.”

John Paul commented offhandedly, “Y’know, I find it kinda funny that by this point we’ve accepted that the murders were all committed by a single murder by never asking Monocat for a confirmation that it was indeed a single murderer massacring our classmates one by one.”

…

Everyone turned to stare at the Chessmaster oddly. The boy blinked, then, upon realizing his words, panicked and turned a bright red, sweating nervously at the sudden attention. Juis huffed, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms, though that movement was ruined by the fact that she facepalmed soon after doing so, shaking her head at him in embarrassment. While this was going on, Wilson was still eyeing his hand – the one with handwriting on it – with scrutiny, while Rosemary was flipping through her ID card like an iPhone, looking rather frustrated. Eugene looked rather concerned for the whole situation, while Reymon had literally just given up and fallen asleep on his feet, the black eye on his face healing, but still looking rather horrible.

It was Daenna who finally spoke up, however, interrupting the random bout of staring we had. “Aisley had been impaled, according to the Monocat Files for this murder. Judging from the pictures…” At this,  a screen descended behind Monocat, as if on cue, and projected close ups of Aisley’s wound as Daenna turned her ID around, showing a smaller version of the picture while pointing her finger at certain points. “We can infer that the murderer had taken her by surprise and speared her with a sharp object before pulling it out, which would explain the messy blood spatters all over the floor, and the excessive bleeding on the map behind her.”

“Um…” We glanced towards the Latecomer, who scratched the back of his neck. “I found evidence that would probably support this… and, well… it’s not very pretty.” Bismarck took out his own ID card, and the screen behind Monocat had the photo change to that of… okay, what the fuck. That was a bloody spear. A _bloody_ spear, everyone. Though it was broken into pieces, it was still obviously a spear. “John Paul found this speartip down inside a large vase along with a few other spears of similar sizes and sharpness, but notably this one was the only one with blood on it.”

“What would a _spear_ of all things be doing in a motherfucking school?!” Bonn asked, incredulous. The Rulebreaker ran his hand through his hair as he asked, “I mean, I know the reason if it was fake but this shit is realer than real! Why d’you keep that kinda fuckshit in this school?!”

In an appeasing tone, Nahangel replied, a gentle smile on his face, “Spears were a token weapon used by our ancestors, the Aetas, alongside various other _sandatas_ , though the crudeness of said weapons were improved upon the moment metal had been discovered in our country. From there, usage of such as daily weapons grew less and less with the introduction of gunpowder, and through extension, spears became a part of Philippine history. The room Aisley was in was a room for history classes, was it not?”

“Fucking hell, Angel, I expected an answer, not a goddamn history lesson...” Bonn tilted his head to the side and slapped the side of his head as if trying to get the metaphorical water out of his ears. “Christ, tune down on the history during trial times. I know you gotta know that shit when negotiating with tribe leaders from the other parts of the country n’ all, but _fuck,_ that was kinda long.”

The albino looked down. “… I’m sorry.”

“…” Bonn eyed the Heir with a certain confusion before groaning, facepalming himself. Though he was trying to hide it with the facepalm, I could clearly see the red spreading across his face. “God _damn it to **hell,**_ Angel, don’t **_do_** that! Y’know I can’t- auuuugh, damn it!” The Rulebreaker buried his face in his hands, yelling profanities I don’t dare say, as the Heir raised an eyebrow, looking up, confused at the actions his roommate was making. He glanced at each of us, a questioning look in his eyes, and most of us answered with a helpless shrug. Welp, looks like this trial was made up of random interruptions. But Nahangel did prove a point – Aisley died in a History room due to a weapon that _should not be in the access of students or teachers, no matter how important it was to a lesson._

Arah pursed her lips. “… Moving on, Nathan, as stated, was poisoned.” When a zoomed in photo of Nathan’s face showed up on the screen behind Monocat, I questioned mentally, _Why would Monocat only bring up now, of all trials, the ability to have screens projecting evidence?_

**_Probably to piss us all off._ **

_True. Though we’re already pissed off because of the fact we’re still here._

**_True, true. And yet we manage to be rational enough to knock the killer out and save everyone else’s asses._ **

_Only to serve the rest of us up for murderer soufflé. Really, maybe I shouldn’t let Wilson talk about what he found out. Or you._

**_Ohhhhh NO you DON’T! This is gonna be my time to shine without the mirror, and if you think for a SECOND that I’m passing up this chance-_ **

_Marc, CALM DOWN. I was KIDDING._

**_… Oh._ **

**_WELL THEN, stop making such tasteless jokes, original me!_ **

_You laugh at them anyway, you sick fuck of nature._

**_FREAK of nature. Not FUCK of nature. That’d be rude._ **

Like I noticed on my intial survey of Nathan’s body, I could see traces of blood near his mouth. Arah continued to speak, saying, “As a result of this poison, Nathan vomited blood, and because of this momentary incapacitation, the murderer found an opening and pulled off his neckerchief, maneuvering around and tying it around his eyes to prevent him from seeing things in front of him before pinning him down, gutting him, and then crucifying him and painting a message with his blood.”

“Which is really disgusting, blah,” Juis crossed her arms, and then added rather quietly, “There are traces of a struggle near the part of the floor in front of the map. And… the message seemed rather off, don’t you think?”

Arah was holding it back, but I could tell she was distressed, talking about her roommate’s murder. “The message was indeed off, but not too farfetched, considering that he was a Gourmet. ‘ _There’s nothing wrong with just a taste of what you were asking for, right Nathan?_ ’” A hand reached up to brush away a few stray strands of hair from her face before she continued, “The ‘taste’ part could correlate to his Gourmet title, just to be unamusingly ironic, but I still don’t understand how Nathan was ‘asking for it’.”

“Maybe the murderer thought that the peacemaker had to die, y’know?” Kyle offered up, running a hand through his hair before playing with the tassels on his jacket. “You ask for peace, and you get trouble.”

“That doesn’t even make sense logically but it also makes sense somehow? Bah.” Mika tugged on a braid rather ruefully. “But either way, do we have any other clues? Or shall we move on to proper discussion?”

“Well… the only thing we can say right now is that the murder is _batshit insane_ , and I don’t think that’s considered as ‘helpful’, so…” Arvin glanced at each of us in turn, eyes boring into the back of my skull. At least, I think that was what was happening? His gaze certainly wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t exactly very welcoming. “Let’s get down to figuring out who did it.”

“Dave was the last one to die at 8:52, which means he was still alive while Marc and I were walking around.” Arah glanced towards me for confirmation, and I nodded before gesturing for her to continue. “Breakfast times start within the hours of 7-8 for us, does it not?”

Bismarck raised a hand. “No, Bismarck, you don’t count. You always come to breakfast at least two hours later.” The Latecomer lowered his hand.

Daenna had a pondering look on her face. “Well, it does appear to be so, Arah, for I myself eat breakfast around 7:35. What is your point, however?”

“Nathan died at 6:29, and like I said, Dave at 8:52. Two hours apart.” Talking about her now deceased roommate seemed to be aggravating Arah to the point that her language was becoming… slightly erratic. “I woke up at around 3:14 to find him missing from our room, and I looked all over school for him until I decided that having someone to help would be great, so I went to Marc’s room to-“

“No one needs to know what happened when you entered my room, Arah,” I grumbled, running a hand through my hair. I swear, if she told them I fell out of bed… “But anyway, yeah, she went to get me, and etcetera, etcetera, everyone is now dead.”

Bea faced me. “What time did you wake up, Marc?”

“Erm…” I thought for a bit. “I’m gonna estimate it to around 6:10 or so.”

“Then that means Nathan had been murdered only nineteen minutes afterwards…” Reymon’s face took on a solemn look.

Charles rolled his eyes. “Simple mathematics. But that was, in a way, helpful. You’ve done something right for once.”

“ _Christ_ , Charlie, can’t you go one trial without antagonizing someone?” Mika crossed her arms, rather irritated by the Translator’s actions. “Or, rather, can’t you go one _hour_ without blatantly insulting and or degrading someone?!”

Baby blue eyes bore deep into faintly glowing violet ones. “I said he did something _right_ for once, didn’t I, _Ellie?_ ”

“And that had been preceded by some degradation!” The Dark Magician tugged on her braids, snarling at the emphasis on the nickname. “Hell, even _that_ sentence was mocking! And don’t call me Ellie, asshole!”

Charles waved his hand around. “ _Ti chiamo quello che voglio_ , Ellie. Or would you rather I called you something less humane like _il ragno cagna,_ hm?”

“What in the- what even is that?!” Mika looked ready to punch the guy in the face at the moment. I didn’t honestly blame her. With a frustrated yell, she bit out, “Arrrghhhh, you’re so… you’re such a little _bitch_!”

“I love you too, Ellie.”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!”

“Can we get back to the trial _please?!”_ The two ‘siblings’ silenced, turning to the Secretary, who looked ready to push them both off a cliff. Again, I didn’t blame her. “As ‘hilarious’ as you may think your ‘sibling’ antics may be, it _is the **middle** of a **goddamn trial **for **actual people who died and matter.**_ So you can both shut the fuck up, and take your stupid sibling rivalry **_OUTSIDE!_** ” Her palm slammed on her stand loudly.

…

…

… Holy shit.

Both students were stunned into silence at the girl’s words, unable to do anything beyond gaping at her. With a sigh, the Secretary fixed her glasses before inquiring, “Might we continue the discussion, then?”

“… Right, right, we should.” Bea shook her head, as if waking from a dream, before saying, “Alright, let’s talk about Aisley’s death once more, since _clearly,_ interruptions are bound to happen when we skip to the whodunit part. The others can wait. What were the murderer and her doing up at 3 AM, anyway?”

“U-um…” Most of the students in the room turned to the person standing next to Charles – Ana - who ‘meep’ed before holding out something, her hands shaking. “I-I-I found something in A-Aisley’s room… a-and I asked permission from Monocat t-to look at her c-chatlogs… I-I didn’t look at anything else, I swear!”

Rose, who was standing next to her, took the item – which turned out to be a sheaf of papers - from her hands, just as a camera lowered next to her ear, viewing what was written on it and projecting the letter on giant screens that lowered all around us.

Crumpled and yellowed, the paper looked like it was really old, but on the screen, it didn’t matter: the dark red letters written on it with messy handwriting and tempered with stains that washed out some parts, but otherwise, the message was still clear.

 

**_WA TC H OUT FOR T H E A_ **

Accompanying the message was an odd arrangement of symbols: two zeroes, with a u in between. Oddly enough, it reminded me of a smiley face: 0u0. But that was silly. It was probably code. Rosemary shuffled that letter behind the other papers, an indiscernible look on her face, revealing the next paper: a transcript of a conversation Aisley had.

zanyTailfeather [ZT] began getting pestered by ??? [??]  
ZT: wh4t th3 sh1t  
??: you must watch out  
ZT: for wh4t? >:?  
ZT: no w41t scr3w th4t who 4R3 you??  
ZT: monoc4t?? >:?  
??: watch out aisley  
??: somebody’s going to murder you at 3 in the morning  
??: in a classroom no less  
ZT: ok4y f1rst of 4ll no why would 1 l1st3n to a str4ng3r who won’t 3v3n show th31r r34l us3rn4m3??   
ZT: for 4ll 1 know you could b3 the 4ctu4l k1ll3r w4rn1ng m3 of your pl4ns so th4t 1’ll t4k3 pr3c4ut1ons 4nd w4lk f4cef1rst 1nto your oth3r murd3r sch3m3 th4t w1ll prob4bly involv3 som3 sort of stup1d 4ss w34pon!  
??: that is strangely specific  
??: but really  
??: you have to listen to me aisley  
??: i know someone’s plotting to kill you  
??: for the shittiest and probably the most meta reason ever  
??: even though i myself don’t understand how it is so meta  
??: but that’s how [][][][][][] described it  
??: aisley please you have to listen to me  
ZT: why should 1? 1 don’t know you  
??: ……  
??: you don’t know me…?  
ZT: uh noooo? >:?  
??: aisley i’m your best friend!  
ZT: mhm sur3 you 4r3  
ZT: 4nd th4t would m34n my m1ddl3 n4m3 1s no3ll3  
??: but that IS your middle name  
ZT: 1rr3l3v4nt  
ZT: you 4r3n’t show1ng m3 your n4m3 how c4n 1 3v3n b3l13v3 you?  
??: oh god he said you wouldn’t remember but i thought he was joking you really don’t remember at all do you  
ZT: wh4t 1s th3r3 to r3m3mb3r??? >:(  
??: EVERYTHING  
??: if i turn on my username for you to see will you finally believe me  
ZT: st1ll wouldn’t know you  
ZT: but ok4y  
ZT: 4t l34st 1’d know wh4t to c4ll you  
??: okay  
?? [??] became martyredCarer[MC]  
headmistressMono [HM] banned MC from responding to ZT  
headmistressMono [HM]  ended the conversation 

“Looks like _somepawdy_ knew the murderer’s plans, hm?” Jenita’s mechanical blue tail danced around behind her as she purred into her sleeves. “But who is it?”

“No one’s named martyredCarer in my chatlist as far as I can tell, and the only usernames in the chatlist belong to everyone else and Monocat herself…” Rafael’s eyes were narrowed, the Trendsetter’s brow furrowed in contemplation. One hand on his waist and the other pulling out his ID and scrolling down it rather furiously, it took him a few moments before he declared, “Yep, definitely no ‘martyredCarer’ in the chatlist. At all.”

“You can view the chatnames on the ID?” Juis pulled out her own ID, curious.

“The usernames are printed below the pictures of the students, Juis. Get with the program, girl.”

“Rriiiiight…”

“Anyway, let’s stop talking about this martyr guy for now; he’s irrelevant to the case, as he is an outsider… or someone who changed their username.” Kyle eyed everyone else suspiciously. “Did you guys change your usernames or anything?”

“Let me stop you right there, sharkbait!” Monocat did a 360 with her head – which was _damn creepy_ even though she was technically a robot – before cackling, “Only I have the pawfurity to change peopawles’ uspurrrnames, and I don’t see any reason to change then right now, soooo… I didn’t do crap shit! Nyahahahaha!”

Well, there went one of our leads. Not that it was any good from the start, really.

I mused, “If Aisley had been speared by a spear, what had been slammed into Juneth’s head? It wasn’t a very pretty sight, and it looked quite similar to how Dara died… minus the crucifixion, of course.”

“ _I_ can answer that.” Paula pulled out her own ID and flicked through pages until she tapped it, allowing the screens all around to show a rather high resolution picture of a sledgehammer. “I chanced upon this after waking up in the Social Studies department, hidden inside a cupboard. How it managed to elude my senses the first time, I have no idea: the bloody stench was quite strong.”

The sledgehammer in the picture looked insanely heavy, and covered in blood, no less. I raised an eyebrow. “That sledgehammer looks a little too heavy to _not_ have knocked Juneth’s eyeballs out. Are you sure that’s the one?”

“Positive. It’s not as heavy as it looks, however.” Paula gestured to her arms. “If these arms can carry the sledgehammer with a lot of effort, then it means it’s not so heavy after all.”

“So that solves that…” I thought for a bit, only to be broken out of my reverie by Shine demanding, “Is that it? You’re not going to investigate further regarding the murder weapons? How sure are you that that weapon wasn’t just planted there?!”

Jenita raised her sleeves rather childishly. “It is most defurnitely not planted there, unfortunately! If you stared at the floor of the Social Studies department, and followed the splatters of blood, you would see that it was completely intentional that they put it there to hide it!”

“I am _so_ not taking clues from a deluded cat girl who can’t say anything properly.” Shine huffed, looking away. Jenita’s tail, despite being mechanical, seemed to be frizzing up in anger. “But anyway, fine then, let’s say it wasn’t planted there. Why a sledgehammer?”

“Why _not?_ ” Jenita shot back, sounding rather miffed at Shine’s dismissal of her evidence. “I mean, _Dara_ got her furricking head smashed in with a _saxophone!”_

“She does have a point…” Bismarck mumbled, fiddling with the collar of his uniform rather anxiously. “We cannot really ask why the murderer chose a sledgehammer, because we have no insight whatsoever into the murderer’s mind.”

The Model still looked rather huffy, but otherwise she simply turned away, sniffing, as Kyle asked, “So are you saying that the murderer managed to get into the Social Studies department while you were there? How is that possible?”

“You could’ve been killed,” Charles put bluntly. “And yet this doesn’t distress you?”

Paula didn’t answer initially, but the way her hands curled up into fists at her sides gave away enough information; she _was_ distressed, but it wasn’t the time to show that she was. “If I had died then and there, then at least I would be far away from this hellhole we call a _school._ But I’m still alive, so I guess that means _I’ll suffer a little longer._ ”

“…” One of Bea’s hands was cradling her face, the other supporting it underneath as she sighed, glancing at everyone. “Must we really argue like this in the middle of the class trial? The murderer’s among us, and they’re most likely laughing at us for taking so long to figure them out.”

The Translator gazed at his roommate with a calculating look, arms crossed. “… You’re right; we should get back to discussion. Oh, and…” There was a significant pause before the blond allowed a very brief apologetic look to cross his face. If you blinked, you would’ve missed it. “… Sorry. I’ve been rather annoying, haven’t I?”

“Oh, ya big dumb, you’re not allowed to be like that in the middle of the trial: this is a public place!” Bea’s voice was scolding, but the look in her eyes was lighthearted. “But at least you’re learning not to be so much of a prick. Little by little, you’re gonna get better!”

“ _Took him long enough…”_ I saw Rafael mouth to Arvin, who made a noise that sounded something like a baby elephant sneezing into a silk handkerchief. Yes, that specific.

To his credit, though, Charles smiled, albeit a very small one. Something told me – perhaps it was intuition? Luck? – that that smile was reserved only for people he cared about. How I assumed this, I didn’t really know. Maybe I picked it up from Aiel. He looked like he was about to say something disgustingly sappy and sentimental, but thankfully enough, he seemed to decide against it, instead choosing to say, “… Let’s get back to discussing the trial.”

“Okay, so we’ve settled that the sledgehammer _wasn’t_ planted. Now what?” Rafael gazed at each of us in turn. “Dave’s murder weapon is still up in the air.”

With a flick of the wrist clutching his ID, a photo of the back of Dave’s head got projected on the screen, and Eugene sighed. “The wounds on the back of his head are oddly shaped; none of them match any sharp implements on the scene.”

“There were no other items hidden around the place that could have served as the murder weapon, either,” Arvin shoved his hands into his pockets, gazing down intently at his stand. “We can assume the murder weapon was kept on the murderer’s person from this information.”

The Swimmer looked rather doubtful. “Then… wouldn’t that automatically make Jenita a suspect, _again_?”

“Mmnya?” Jenita looked like she had been caught with a hand in the cookie jar, except she had been draping her sleeves over her head. “Me?”

“Okay, let me just say this now: Jenita is _not_ the murderer.” Rosemary crossed her arms. “What gave you the idea that she’d be a suspect, anyway?”

“Well, Arvin said that the most probable line of thought would be that the murderer carried the weapon around-“

“Then the blood would be trailing all over the place! Geez, Jatulan, has your brain rotted from all the chlorine in the swimming pool?”

“Actually I-“

“No, I don’t need to know, that was a rhetorical question. Shut up.”

“Oh.”

“Well… there’s Asprah. He’s a walking talking machine of destruction. Literally.” Bismarck offered, scratching his cheek rather awkwardly. “But he’s in the clinic with Ina, so we can’t really ask him now, can we?”

“Hey, Monocat…” Bea glanced at our ‘principal’, who tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner. “I have a question.”

“Fire away, Baves, nyaaaa~!” Monocat trilled, waving her paws around cheerily.

Bonn gave the cat an incredulous look. “… What in the name of hell kind of nickname is ‘Baves’?”

“Shush you, I think it’s purrfect.”

The Musician closed her eyes for a bit, pondering, before opening them once more, gazing at Monocat solemnly. “It’s… about the murder announcement.”

“Huh?” Apparently that had caught everyone’s attention, since everyone’s head turned towards her in confusion.

“Well, there’s a furst. What about it, my dear?” Monocat swung her lower paws back and forth, awaiting Bea’s inquiry with the curiosity of a child.

Bea mused, “It’s three to a body, isn’t it?”

“Yeeeees~? What about it?”

“… Nothing. Just confirming it for everyone.” Bea shook her head before returning to her own private musings.

“… Geez, that was a waste of efurrypawdy’s time!” Monocat punched the back of her throne, only to yelp as the tall chair teetered back and furth – goddamit, I mean _forth –_ before finally falling over, leaving our two-toned principal flailing on the ground and shrieking in indignation. James, being the unfortunate student standing nearest to our fallen principal, helped her up and pulled up her chair as well, being obligated to. With a huff, Monocat settled herself once more on her chair before saying, “Much apurreciated, Jayoma. Your kindness to your principal will not be furgotten.”

“Oh great, now you’re on her good side. What next, you reveal yourself to be a puppet of the mastermind?” Kyle complained, crossing his arms.

James chuckled rather nervously, scratching the back of his head. “That’s a little too much, isn’t it?”

Daenna leaned forward, eyes wide. “So are you confirming outright that you _are_ the mastermind’s puppet, James?”

“What?! No!”

“Well, it _sure_ sounded like you were!”

“Can it, Jatulan. No one wants to hear you whining!”

“I-it’s always a possibility…”

“Ana, you’re following the others into a path of aimlessness.”

“S-sorry, Paula…”

“Alright guys,” I interrupted, raising a hand. “While arguing over whether or not James is a puppet of the mastermind is cool and all, we’re still kind of in the middle of the trial here? So it’d be best if we… y’know, **_moved things along?_** ”

“Yeah…”

“He’s right…”

“… Wilson?”

The voices hushed at Rosemary’s voice. The Therapist had her head turned towards the Gamer, who looked even deeper in thought. With a worried tone, she asked, “Father-  no, Wilson, I’ll stop with the family titles for now –, you’ve been quiet during the whole trial. Are you… okay?”

“…” Wilson didn’t reply, still staring at his hand. Was he attempting to figure out the code on his own? ITRA, wasn’t it?

“He-llooooo? Earth to Wilson?” Shine moved a few stands to the right to wave a hand in front of Wilson’s face, to no avail. “Guys, I don’t think he’s here with us. At least, not at the moment.”

“… the code…”

“Huh?” Nahangel stared at Wilson. “What now? Say that again.”

“… the… code…”

“The code?” Juis placed her hands on her hips. “What the heck are you talking about?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jenita’s tail twitch in Wilson’s direction.

“THEEEEEE COOOOOOOOODEEEEE!”

“Holy _shit-“_ Within a few moments, Wilson had managed to knock down all the stands with a single blow to his own stand, toppling them all down, domino style. Somehow Bonn got caught up in all of it, and had at least three stands on top of him, the Rulebreaker cursing loudly underneath all of it. “YOU SON OF A-“

“Bonn. _Calm_.” I watched as Nahangel knelt down beside the fallen Bonn, shoving off the stands, just as Juis turned to Wilson, obviously aggravated. “What the heck was that for, Wilson?! Why’d you knock down all these stands?! And for that matter, what code are you talking about!”

“… It’s that code you have on your hand, isn’t it?” I ventured. “ITRA.”

Wilson nodded, looking very determined. “Yeah. But I found other letters too, so it’s not just ‘ITRA’.”

“Wait, where’d you pick them up?” Arvin raised an eyebrow. “And how exactly did you choose to determine it as ‘code’?”

“He… ripped off Aisley’s body from the map to get I, T, R, and A.” I explained, scratching the back of my neck while laughing rather nervously. “Dunno why, but he did.”

Daenna’s eyes widened. “So are you implying that Wilson decided to pry off all the other bodies from their own corresponding maps as well to get to the ‘code’? Where on the maps is the code, anyway?”

“I figured it out when I saw how weird everyone was pinned up; there had to be a reason why one of Aisley’s arms was like THIS,” Wilson’s body tilted to the side, an arm outstretched that way, and the other outstretched at an odd angle. “While the other arm was like THIS.” He shifted his position to an almost exact mirror image of his previous position.

I thought for a bit. “… The places where the sharp objects pinned the bodies down, right?”

“Right!” Wilson grinned. “Man, you learn fast. D’you play Mystery Case Files often?”

“Uh…”

“… Forget I asked.”

“I-I do…” Ana raised a hand timidly. “T-though, I focus on the R-Ravenhearst trilogy more…”

“Oh, **_sweet!_** ” The Gamer pumped his fist before stopping, sweating. “I got off track there for a second… well, anyway, like I said, I think I figured out the code!”

A screen popped out behind Wilson, and as a hush settled down over most of us, the screen projected a larger image of Wilson’s calloused hand, which had the following letters on it:

**I               T              R             A             J              En           M            C**

…

… Okay, so not _all_ of them were letters. ‘En’ stood out amongst the others, being a capital letter and a small letter counting as one. However, that still didn’t help matters much; I still had no goddamn idea what it all meant. And, from the looks on their faces… neither did they.

“That’s… wonderful and all, Wilson, but… how exactly is this supposed to help?” Arah pushed up her glasses, lips pursed.

The Gamer groaned, slapping a palm to his forehead before declaring, “Guys, the murderer just revealed who they were through this code! That’s the only reason for this!”

…

…

… Wait, **_what?_**

**_-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-_ **

**[TRIAL TIME: INTERRUPTED]**


	27. All We Want Is Your Soul - Mortem Regnat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> screw it im gonna finish this one of these days i damn well wILL i dont CARE HOW SHITTY IT IS ANYMORE HERE BEA

**[INTERMISSION: BEGIN]**

**_Nyaaa, this is a rather nerve-wracking trial, isn’t it? Ukukuku, that’s exactly what I want to hear!_ **

**_A furry strange trial, this is, to have the murderer’s name hidden in the maps the victims were pinned to! Was this on purpawse or by complete coincidence? I have no idea; I’m just a big ol’ wuss puss, nyahahaha~!_ **

**_… Just kidding, I know what’s going on! These lovely lookers aren’t just for show, ya know? Ukukuku~!_ **

**_Now, I wondpurr… will there be much despair after this trial?_ **

**_The murderer is someone I hope they will discovfur, fur some reason. I am guessing that there will be more despair when they catch the blackened, compared to the despair that will happen should they fail to do so!_ **

**_Mrooow, I have wasted enough time! The trial must continue!_ **

**_FUR THE GLORY OF PANCAKES- I mean despair!_ **

**_Ukukuku… NYAHAHAHAHAAAA~!_ **

**[INTERMISSION: END]**

**[TRIAL TIME: RESUME]**

_The Gamer groaned, slapping a palm to his forehead before declaring, “Guys, the murderer just revealed who they were through this code! That’s the only reason for this!”_

_…_

_…_

_… Wait, **what?**_

“Are you _serious?!”_ Charles’s voice was seething with rage as he furiously attempted to fix his glasses and hair simultaneously, to no avail; he still looked like the idiot who got stuck in a wind tunnel. And for once, I didn’t blame him. “You mean to tell me you had this code the _whole **damn** time, _and you let us ramble on for no good reason when you had one of the biggest leads in the **_WHOLE DAMN CASE?!”_**

Ana’s hand found its way onto Charles’s forearm, which she patted timidly. “H-hey… calm down, Chuckie…”

“Charles is right; why did you withhold this information?” Daenna looked unperturbed by the fact that Wilson was carrying what was most likely a crucial piece of evidence. “We would have saved a lot more time and eliminated the murderer faster.”

The way Daenna said ‘eliminate’, however, was cold and cruel; completely unlike the demure and gentle SHSL Princess I was more used to. Apparently everyone else picked up on it too, because I could see a visible shiver run through most of the others’ spines. Only a few didn’t seem bothered by this one-second change of character: Arvin, which was understandable since he was kind of stuck on her like glue, Jenita, who didn’t look like she was bothered by _anything,_ Rosemary, who only rolled her eyes at this, and Reymon, who looked rather fascinated. I myself only scratched my cheek, spooked.

**_You’re easily spooked, aren’tcha, big fella?_ **

_Look who’s talking._

**_Haha, yeah, guess so. I’m you, so I really shouldn’t be one to talk._ **

_… Hey, Marc?_

**_Hah? You’re Marc, remember? Alpha Marc, I mean._ **

_Just… just let me call you Marc for now, alright?_

**_… Something bothering you, big guy?_ **

_Yeah, I guess… though if you’re really in my head, you’d know what it is._

**_Let me just… mm, yep. I understand perfectly._ **

_What, really?_

**_No, you blundering cabbage patch kid, I’m not a mind reader._ **

_But you just said before-_

**_You can’t expect me to tell perfect truths all the time, geez. But anyway, even though I don’t know the specifics… my pointy hair thing’s telling me it’s about Wilson._ **

**_… What._ **

_It’s called an ahoge._

**_That’s a shitty term._ **

_You’re a shitty reflection of myself._

**_… Touché, compadre. Anyway, am I right? Is it about resident fatass over there?_ **

_Well, yes… I’m rather worried about the evidence he’s carrying._

**_How come? You weren’t this worried when we only got ITRA as the code._ **

_I know, I know… but… this seems too easy, doesn’t it? The murderer, laying their name out in plain sight… that’s a little too obvious, isn’t it?_

**_Meh. I wouldn’t know; I’m not a murderer unless you’re a murderer. Are YOU a murderer?_ **

_NO!_

**_There we go, big guy. We’re not murderers, whoop dee doo. Therefore, we don’t know jack shit about what this trial’s murderer was thinking._ **

_Well…_ I couldn’t really argue with _that_ logic. _Still, you have to admit the idea’s utter bullshit!_

**_True. Even I’m shocked._ **

I was stunned into silence at this impossible revelation; the Gamer was gripping his stand with such conviction that it was impossible  _not_ to believe him. Said declaration had stirred up most of the remaining students, myself included, into tirades of confusion and outrage at the, well,  _outrageous_ announcement.

"T-that's impossible!" Mika's voice rang clear and strong above all the noise, but staring at her, you could tell she was shaken. And who wouldn't be, if you had realized that the murderer's identity had possibly been given away  _intentionally_ by said murderer? And for what purpose, even? Did they...  _Did they want to die and get executed...?_ "What kind of idiot believes that sort of crap?! No murderer would give away their identity just like that!"

Eugene ran his fingers through his crew cut, stressed. "She's... kind of right. No murderer who wants to live would give away their identity like that. It's too...  _easy._ "

I had to give it to the poor guy; being the President, he was stuck handling all of us crazy kids - er, teenagers - and keeping us all from from murdering each other. Now that Dara was dead... he's probably having a really hard time, considering the fact that on one hand, we had the sane people like Bea and Arah, and on the other hand, we had the batshit delirious and violent ones like Jenita and Bonn. He seemed to be holding up well, though, so I can't really say anything.

"Well, who knows, really," Arah sighed, crossing her arms. "We cannot really say for sure what the murderer's thought process was at the time, so it could be a plausible answer to this mystery." She trained her gaze on Wilson. "However, the question still remains: what possessed you to think of such an outlandish concept?"

Fingers drumming on her stand, Rosemary raised a good point. "Wilson's a gamer; he has to think of all the possibilities to find the hidden secrets in games, doesn't he? That's what makes him the best in his field, Arah."

"Fair point." The Secretary closed her eyes, then said. "Alright then, Wilson, tell us: who is the murderer?"

Wilson giddily pointed to the last four letters of the code.

**J              En           M            C**

…

Jenmc?

Jen... mc...

...

"Holy fucking SHIT." Arvin, along with the rest of us, turned to stare at one person in the trial room. Someone who was currently playing with the edges of her long trailing sleeves, her eyes glinting mischievously, oblivious to the disbelieving and incredulous stares of everyone around her. Once she noted the uncanny silence, however, she blinked, then looked up, meeting everyone's eyes with a sort of childlike wonder, eyes wide in curiosity. The tiny fangs that stuck out of her mouth whenever she smiled her trademark grin - the ones that usually looked so adorable on her - now made her look like some vicious wild animal, capable of tearing into everyone and ripping their head off with one bite.

"What's efurrypawdy looking at?"

"Okay, what the fuck." We all turned to Rosemary, who was giving us all a dirty look. "Why are you guys looking at Jenita like that? You can't possibly be implying what I think you're implying."

Charles gave her a look. "The evidence all points to her."

" _Bullshit._ "

"I-It's... not that far-fetched of an assumption..." Ana mumbled, only to visibly wilt when Rosemary turned her glare on her. "EEP! I-I'm sorry!"

Arah tried to intervene, holding up a hand in Rosemary's direction. "Rosemary, be reasonable; we've finally found our prime suspec-"

"No, you've finally found a  _scapegoat_ to pin all the blame on." The Therapist was  _livid_ , pointing at each of us with a shaking finger. Her other hand was gripping her stand dangerously as she scowled. "Just because Jenita carries around weapons of mass murder on her at all times-"

Charles gave her a pointed look.

"-and just because she has pointy little fangs that she could sink into your throat-"

Ana cowered.

"- _doesn't mean she's the damn murderer, you **hear me**?"_  Rosemary inhaled sharply, and then exhaled, closing her eyes and holding up a hand. "Okay, sorry, that was out of line and very anger-driven of me, I am sorry. But my point still stands: Jenita's not the murderer."

Heterochromic eyes blinked, though whether it was out of genuine curiosity or some strange other emotion, I wasn't quite sure. "They think I'm the murderer?"

"Haven't you been paying attention, you skank?" Shine snapped.

"Don't call her a skank!" Both Mika and Rosemary immediately snapped to her defense.

James tugged on his collar. "Mika-"

"You shut the fuck up." Mika told him as politely as she could. The Singer swallowed, but otherwise didn't say a word.

 "What's it to you if Jenita's the murderer anyway, Rosemary?" John Paul asked, genuinely interested in the answer. The Chessmaster fiddled with the edge of his sleeve as he waited for Rosemary's answer, Juis curling her lip at his passiveness.

Rosemary sighed. "She's my roommate, okay? Of course I gotta defend her integrity. I  _know_ Jenita. She's weird, but she wouldn't hurt a fly with her too-real cosplay claws because she's Jenita." With a smile, the Therapist's gaze softened as she turned to her roommate, who had her head hung, sleeves hanging by her sides. The only indication that Jenita was still listening was the occasional flick of her mechanical tail, though they were all weak twitches, almost as if Jenita had lost the will to move. Upon realizing this, Rosemary frowned, her brow furrowing in concern. "Jen?"

"..." Jenita didn't respond. Her mechanical tail did one flick before falling slack against her cloak.

**_... Oh fuck._ **

_What is it?_

**_Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh FUCK._** Shadow Marc's voice was frantic, almost as if he was actually  _breathless._

_Oh my God, what's the matter NOW?_

**_She's the murderer. She's the murderer. She is without a doubt the murderer._ **

_What?!_ I was baffled; how did he know while I didn't?  _Wh- how can you tell? No one's said anything yet-_

**_LOOK AT HER AND TELL ME THAT'S NOT THE POSTURE OF A GUILTY WOMAN, MARC CHRISTOPHER ALELIS!_ **

I turned my head.

"... I see..."

In that moment, I felt my sins crawling up my back. Or something similar to that; it was such a weird creepy feeling, kind of like having a bunch of fuzzy tarantulas being manhandled by some fire ants trotting up your back like eight legged horses on the prairie. But I digress. Simultaneously, everyone in the room shuddered involuntarily as Jenita looked up, giving each of us a long stare, her characteristic smile gone from her face, leaving nothing but inky blackness below the glow of her green and blue eyes. It was like she didn't have a mouth under the hood, which was  _freaky_. Her eyes, with their strange, catlike pupils, stared deep into everyone's souls - mine and Wilson's in particular, now that I noticed -, unblinking, wide-eyed, until finally, she faced Rosemary.

"... Jen? Are you feeling alright?" I felt a little sorry for the fiery haired Therapist: despite the fact she was trying to play it cool, she was just as unsettled as we were at what Jenita was doing. She was trying to mask it with her genuine concern, however, as she gave Jenita a smile. "Hey, they were kidding about you being the murderer, don't act so surprised or scared or whatever.  _Right_ , guys?" At this, she pointedly looked at all of us, Wilson in particular. Wilson didn't seem to give a fuck.

"..." Jenita stared unblinkingly at her roommate.

Rosemary's brow furrowed again, but otherwise she stepped away from her stand to walk over to Jenita, stretching out her arms and wrapping the cloaked girl in a hug. Bonn gave the two of them a withering look, but stopped at the look his own roommate gave him, the albino's stare cutting into Bonn like a knife. The Rulebreaker huffed, crossing his arms, as Rosemary told Jenita firmly, "Hey, smile already, won'tcha? I've been beating everyone up over them accusing you wrongly for the past few minutes, so you can smile now, okay? It's not you who murdered them!"

**_Rosemary, get away from her!_ **

"What?" Everyone looked at me in confusion.

I slapped a palm over my mouth, my face paling. I - or rather,  _Shadow Marc_ \- had said it out loud.  _What the fuck?! Since when can YOU control my body?!_

**_I..._ **

"Marc, what the fuck." Mika echoed everyone's sentiments at the moment, giving me an incredulous look.

"That wasn't me!" I insisted, only to blurt out, " ** _Rosemary I swear to God get away from that crazy_ _bitch!_** "

"Marc!" Even Arah was giving me a look now. Oh God, everyone thinks I must be going insane now.

Rosemary held Jenita tighter as a response to my outbursts. "Marc, what the hell?! What's going on with you?! Jenita hasn't done anything to you!"

_Dude, what the fuck?!_

**_I don't know what's going on! I swear I didn't want to say that using your voice!_ **

_Okay, that's a bunch of crap!_ I was  _beyond_ pissed.  _You're supposed to be just a voice in my head that happens to be separate from me and nothing more!_

**_I'm YOU too, remember, asshole?! So I have at least some form of connection to you!_ **

_My REFLECTION!_ I mentally snapped, glancing at everyone still staring at me. Thankfully, I didn't seem to have said the sentence out loud, so they weren't looking at me weirdly. They were just looking at me as if I had pranced around naked with a pink bow on my ahoge.  _You were my REFLECTION from one of Monocat's twisted ideas for a courtroom made of creepy carnival mirrors!_

Beat.

_Oh my God, are you- ARE YOU MONOCAT'S ACCOMPLICE?! DID SHE PLANT SOME SORT OF CHIP IN MY BRAIN BEFORE I WOKE UP HERE?!_

**_Oh my GOD, you're such a fucking dumbass, of COURSE NOT!_ **

_THEN EXPLAIN HOW MY REFLECTION ENDED UP IN MY BRAIN AND STARTED TALKING TO ME AND TAKING OVER MY GODDAMN BRAIN!_

For once, Shadow Marc had the decency to sound abashed.  ** _... I'm a reflection of a part of you, Marc. All of us reflections are. Even if Monocat made those mirrors to finally show us in full to taunt you or help you, we're still technically a part of you. So... even without the mirrors, we're still in your heads._** Silence.  ** _... I didn't mean to... say that out loud. Really. I don't know what happened._**

I must have looked so pissed, because Juis had touched my arm in concern. "Marc?"

"..." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair in an attempt to calm myself down. This was... this must be a ploy by Monocat. It has to be; there wouldn't be any reason for Shadow Marc to suddenly take over my body, anyway. He's me, and he sees what I'm doing and snarks me for it. He influences my decisions but ultimately it's  _me_ doing anything.

**_Exactly!_ **

_I wasn't talking to you._

**_... I'm sorry, okay?_ **

_I know. Just... what was that all about? Is Jenita really...?_

**_..._ **

I groaned at Shadow Marc's lack of a reply. Of  _course_ the asshole decides to shut up at such an important question. Still, he seemed really scared for Rosemary when he spoke up, both in my head and using my vocal chords, so he must have been on to something.

Rosemary was currently rubbing a hand on Jenita's cloaked back, murmuring, "Jenita, shhh, it's okay, Marc didn't mean any of that, he's just crazy right now because Dave died."

"Excuse me?!" I exclaimed, a bit ticked off. In my mind, I could practically  _feel_ Shadow Marc seething with rage at Rosemary's comment. "I am  _not_ crazy!"

"... mnhmm..."

Everyone looked towards Jenita, who had mumbled something into Rosemary's chest. The Therapist let go for a bit to attempt to look at Jenita directly, asking, "What was that, Jen?"

"... he's... not crazy." Jenita said slowly, still not meeting Rosemary's gaze. "Marc... isn't going crazy."

"Okay, maybe I was just kidding about that part because I wanted you to feel better about being accused as the murderer when you're not." Rosemary laughed melodiously, the corners of her eyes crinkling with mirth. "It's funny, right? Cause you're not the murderer!"

"..."

All was deathly silent. You could have heard a pin drop.

Suddenly, Jenita was shaking, her head hanging lower. Alarmed, Arah and Rosemary surged forward, but Eugene held his Secretary back by the shoulder, his vice grip keeping the girl in place as Rosemary reached out to cup Jenita's face with a hand. "Jen? Jen, what's wrong?"

"Rose..."

"Yes, Jen?" Rosemary's voice was sickeningly sweet, but there was a certain tinge of concern in it that I couldn't place. It was a mix between genuine concern and terror.

"Rose... I'm so sorry. I'm so... so sorry." And before any of us could react, I heard the telltale sound of her all-too realistic cosplay claws unsheathing.

" **GET AWAY FROM HER!** " I slapped a hand over my mouth again, but Shadow Marc exclaimed,  ** _Dude, that wasn't me this_ _time!_  **so I looked around wildly, looking for the source of the shout.

Suddenly, Rosemary was surrounded in an intense violet glow, and with a yelp, she was tossed in Reymon's direction, the Scientific Archer barely getting the chance to comprehend what was happening before they both fell to the ground in a tangled heap, the Therapist on top of the blue haired scientist, arms splayed out and trapping him under her.

From across the room, Mika's eyes were glowing a bright violet, her pupils and sclera fully covered by the brightness, her hand outstretched and her fingers spread out, wisps of purple drifting lazily between them. After a moment, however, the violet faded from her eyes and fingers, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head before she fell to the ground, passing out from her use of her powers. James immediately skittered to her side, checking for a concussion, while everyone turned to look at Jenita with fear in their eyes. There was a strange metallic scent tinging the air - a scent you wouldn't have noticed unless you had been paying attention close attention to the clean, almost hospital like scent of the courtroom - and I dared to look at her claws.

"... oh God." Kyle wheezed, stumbling backwards.

There was blood on the tips of Jenita's claws.

It was dry, but the color was still rather bright, indicating that it was recent, which explained the smell. The bright red of the blood - was it Dave's? It most likely was - contrasted greatly with the blue of her claws as she walked over to Monocat's stand, the dual colored cat giving her a bored look before yelping as Jenita shook her out of her throne, the cat landing on her tail.

"What the furrick was that for, pussycat?!" Monocat demanded.

Jenita gave Monocat a soulless stare, which made the robot immediately shut up. With her claws, she clambered up to the tiny seat, where she seemed to fit just perfectly, except for the fact that it was a chair for kids and she was still kind of a teenager that was much too big for such a kiddie chair, but I digress. Jenita stared at all of us blankly before looking at Rosemary, who was frozen, still on top of Reymon.

"... Rosie..." There it was: Jenita's regular, cutesy voice. It sounded like it was crying this time.

Rosemary immediately jumped into action, getting off of Reymon and heading for Jenita. "Jen, Jen, it's okay, come here, baby, mama Rosie's here-"

"No." Aaaaand there it went. Jenita's voice suddenly turned menacing, which was something Rosemary picked up on. The Therapist took a step back.

"... So, I was right?" Everyone looked at Wilson.

Jenita adjusted herself in such a way that she was practically lounging on the throne. "... Mm-hmm."

"Holy shit." Wilson looked so pleased with himself, it was hard to begrudge the guy for his personal victory. "Finally, my gaming skills pay off!"

"... God dammit." Charles pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jen... you gotta... you gotta be lying, right?" Rosemary took a step forward. Jenita hissed. "You're lying, right?"

Jenita ignored her, facing the rest of the class with her trademark Cheshire Cat grin. However, this time, it was a  _lot_ scarier. "Monocat took away something from the people who opened the bottles, didn't she?"

"What does that have to do with-" Bonn was immediately cut off by a shriek from Jenita. "ANSWER ME, MOTHERFUCKER!"

... Oh my God, she said all of that without any cat puns.

"S-she did!" Ana replied bravely, only to wail as Jenita giggled, raising a boot up in the air. "D-d-don't kill meeeee...!"

"I opened one of those bottles. I lost something." Jenita hinted, flailing her arms in the air. "Tell me, what did I lose?"

"Your shit!" Monocat replied from her place on the floor.

In response, Jenita stuck her tongue out at the 'principal'. Monocat was  _steamed_. Literally; there was steam escaping the robotic cat's ears as she huffed, "Why, I  _never_!" before sitting at the foot of her usual spot, sulking.

"I lost my inhibitions, of course!" The Super High School Level Fangirl tossed her sleeves up in the air, cheering. "Why, who  _wouldn't_ want to kill in such a delightful little place, yeah?"

"J-Jenita, stop it..." Rosemary took another step forward. At this, Jenita flashed a claw at her, making the Therapist skip a few steps backwards.

Jenita glared at all of us again. "Everything is  _so_ much better with killing. Especially in this cliche we're in! 'High school students stuck in a school where the only way to get out is to kill or be killed'... doesn't that sound  _familiar_?"

It didn't to me, and to the rest of us, if their confused faces were anything to base off of, but a small part of me that wasn't Shadow Marc nagged that if Arfel, the Super High School Level Otaku, had stayed alive until now, he would have known what Jenita was talking about. Jenita was queen of fandoms, which meant at one point, she would have encountered anime fandoms. Arfel mentioned a similar situation, which might have been what Jenita was referencing. But...

"... But why?!" Bea burst out. "We... we're your friends, aren't we?!"

"That makes everything so much sadder!" Jenita fanned herself. "Ah, the feels, can you feel the feels yet, Bea? Mmm, it's so salty and sad and, oh, I _LOVE_ it so! Nyaaaa~!" The Fangirl purred happily to herself as she righted herself, sitting properly again. "Oh, I can see the  _betrayal_ on your faces! Isn't my Face-Heel Turn so beautiful?!"

"That's not even a Face-Heel Turn!" Paula protested. "This is just  ** _fucked_ _up!_** "

_I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON ANYMORE!_

**_Join the club._ **

"You're a fangirl, so everything has to be some sort of... some sort of  _reference_ with you or someshit..." Bonn grumbled, clenching his fists.

Jenita winked. "But of course! Haven't you been paying attention to the things I've been writing on the walls?"

_** THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH JUST A TASTE OF WHAT YOU WERE ASKING FOR RIGHT NATHAN ** _

_** ** DEATH ** ** _

_** THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ** _

_** _** LET’S PLAY A GAME. I HAVE MADE MY IDENTITY OBVIOUS, BUT IF YOU DON’T PAY ATTENTION, YOU’RE GONNA GET YOUR JUST DESSERTS! ** _ ** _

_... WHAT THE HELL DO THEY EVEN MEAN?!_

The last one was obvious: Jenita was referencing her little world map puzzle that ended up spelling out her name. Death... Monocat mentioned Misao, which is an 'indie game' according to her... and Nathan's must be referencing his Gourmet title. I couldn't think of anything else for it.

Aisley's... it was a weird one.

"What did... what did Nathan's message mean?" Arah asked slowly, her hands curling into fists at her sides. "What...  ** _what did it mean,_ _Jenita?_** "

The Fangirl yawned. "It wasn't anything important, don't worry about it. I thought it'd be appropriate since he's a Gourmet and all and I simply do love me a little bit of Panic! at the Disco." The girl stretched, and then flicked a claw in and out lazily. "A little lyric modification aside, I think it was appropriate."

"You're sick." Juis bit out.

"No, I'm Jenita." At this, Jenita let out a string of giggles. "Any more questions?"

"What's up with Aisley's message?" Reymon finally ventured, making everyone turn to him. "There can... only be one?"

At this, Jenita's smile disappeared. She stared off somewhere. "... Yes. There can only be one person... only one beloved person... _only **one** in their heart..._" Her claw stayed unsheathed. "Fandoms are  _my domain. Not hers._ "

"... That is  _creepy_." Shine backed away. "I'm so creeped out."

"Hello, I'm so creeped out, I'm Jenita!" Aaaaaand there she was back again. But I had an idea of what she might have been referencing now: Aisley's shirt was one that I saw a lot at some conventions, so it must have been a fandom shirt, and she wasn't happy with it. "Okay, with that done and over with, we should really get on with the-"

" **WAIT!** "

Everyone's gazes swiveled over to Rosemary.

Rosemary looked so  _lost_. I pitied the Therapist as she stood, trembling, her head hanging. "Jen... it's not... it's not funny anymore, Jen..."

"..." Jenita stared at her roommate, an unreadable emotion reflected in her eyes.

"Jen... it... it's not funny anymore, okay?!" When Rosemary looked up, everyone flinched back at the wild look in her emerald eyes, which were filling up with tears. "Jen, this is some sick prank you're playing on me, and it's... i-it's not funny anymore, okay?! Stop it!"

"... Rose..."

"I-It was funny the first few moments but n-now it isn't!" A step forward. "I-I've been playing along with your... with your reference-y bullshit for the past few minutes, but I've just about h-had it, buster! Stop it!"

To her credit, Jenita almost looked sad. "Rose, this isn't a joke."

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE LYING!" Rosemary screeched, startling everyone, even Monocat, who had fallen asleep at the foot of Jenita's 'throne'. With a growl, Rosemary stalked over to where Jenita was sitting, and yanked on her tail, pulling her down to the ground and catching her in her arms. Monocat, in her delight, scrambled back up on her seat, declaring, "Victory!", as Ana screamed at the sight of Jenita's claws almost slicing Rosemary's arm into ribbons, but just before she could, Jenita sheathed her claws, only managing to chop off Rosemary's ponytail off with the claw near her pinky. The fiery hair fell to the ground in a clump, her blue butterfly clip falling to the ground with a clatter, what was left of Rosemary's hair falling in curls around her face as she gripped Jenita by the shoulders, apparently not fazed by what had just happened.

"Rosemary, your hair!" Daenna implored.

The Therapist either didn't hear her, or didn't care. She was still staring intensely at Jenita. "JENITA MAE ROMUALDO, YOU HAD BETTER OWN UP TO YOUR SICK PRANK RIGHT NOW YOU LITTLE SHIT, OR I'LL... OR I'LL..."

"... Rosemary..." Jenita's whisper was so tender, so sad, so unlike the person that had been broadcasting her sins just a few minutes ago.

"I'LL... I'll..." Rosemary hung her head, shaking, still gripping Jenita's shoulders tightly. "I'll fucking  _kill_ you, Jenita... if you're not going to own up to your prank in  _three counts_ , I'm gonna fucking...  _kill_ you..."

"One..." Everyone paled, holding their breath.

" _Two..."_ Jenita only stared at Rosemary sadly.

"... th..." Rosemary's lip wobbled, and finally, the tears cascaded down her face,  _plink_ ing on the ground, the sound reverberating throughout the whole courtroom in the silence that had ensued. The only sound we could all hear was the sound of Rosemary's silent sobbing as her fingers finally released Jenita's shoulders in resigned acceptance of what was happening. "... Jen... you're... you're not the... you're..."

"... You saw me leaving that night, Rose." Jenita's voice was soft, soothing. "I never came back, right?"

"..." Rosemary was still shaking.

"..." Jenita sighed, and reached into her sleeves, unbuckling something. After a few minutes, both her bloodied clawntlets fell to the ground, and she wrapped her arms around her sobbing roommate in a hug, pressing her head against Rosemary's chest once more. "I'm so... so sorry, Rosemary. I'm so sorry."

"... why did you do it...?" Rosemary croaked out. "W... why...?"

"... Death always reigns, Rosie." Jenita said this matter-of-factly despite her apologetic tone. "Death is only a pawn to the greater plan."

"W-wha... greater plan?"

"Oh- _kaaaaay, nyaaaaa_ , this was a really nice sobfest and all, darlings, but we have to like, y'know, get to the execution and all? And the voting?" Monocat's tail flicked as she raised a paw. "Please vote for the murderer now, darlings! Just to get this over with!"

Everyone selected Jenita Romualdo immediately... all except for Rose, who didn't want to leave Jenita.

"Congratulatiooooons, efurrypawdy, though she literally spelled it out fur you, nyaaa~!" Monocat clapped her paws. "Jenita Romualdo murdered Aisley Pondevida, Nathan Cordero, Juneth Magbanua, and Dave Anatalio, and permanently scarred Nazarina Tercero!" A loud fanfare resounded, and confetti poured out of  _nowhere_. "If you ask me,  _eye'd_ say she did Ina good! In fact, Ina didn't...  _see it coming!_ NYAHAHAHAHA~!"

"STOP IT!" Arah wailed, covering her ears.

Monocat rolled her eyes. "Ugh, spoilsport. Anyway, since everyone already got out what needs to be said  _befur_ the voting... iiiiiiit's  _execution tiiiime~!_ My  _favorite_ part of the trial, nyahahahaha~!"

"Before I go..." Jenita stepped away from Rosemary. "Everyone deserves to see what I look like. I mean, you've  _all_ been curious, haven't you?" At the lack of reply, Jenita hung her head, and then, with a swift motion, took off her hood, revealing a small tan face that housed her heterochromic eyes, her mouth pursed in such a way that she constantly had her tiny fangs poking out of her mouth. Thick locks of brown hair hung in front of her ears, framing her face, and her strange golden circlet shone sadly in the light of the courtroom. Her hair was kept in a ponytail that she kept tucked in her hood.

She looked familiar.

"...! You were the one..." I stared at her. "You were the one I saw before in the clinic...!"

Jenita blinked before chuckling wryly. "I'm surprised you remember that. It's been a long time."

"I didn't recognize you and connect your appearance to the sudden appearance of, well, cloaked Jenita," I admitted bashfully, rubbing the back of my head.

Jenita shook her head. "You're so silly for a protagonist. I can't believe we picked you to be the protag."

 _Wha- what?_ "What?"

"Nothing." Jenita grinned at Monocat. "Shall we, Monocat?"

" _Of course!_ "

... I might have been hallucinating, but Monocat, in that moment, sounded  _exactly_ like Jenita, except tinnier.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

** ‘I LIKE TRAINS’ **

Unlike Joshua and Ellianna prior to her, Jenita hadn't been dragged into the execution room: she had willingly walked in, just as a large screen lowered over the doorway she had walked through, showing a room similar to the courtroom, with chessboard patterns. Giant lilypads appeared to be floating all around the place as Jenita stood over a cliff, her posture straight as she seemed to examine the ground below the cliff with a sad look in her eye.

 _'... No reaction.'_ Jenita's voice echoed out through the speakers. I glanced at Monocat, who raised up a signboard that said 'Jenita's thoughts', before turning back to the screen.  _'Was I wrong then?'_

"This is a Fire Emblem reference, god damn it." Wilson muttered.

 _'... Rose... this is some torch I'm passing you.'_ Everyone stared at Rose, who had blinked away tears at the sound of her name.

And then, Jenita fell.

And suddenly, all hell broke loose.

It was like someone took a multifandom person and shook them all over the goddamn place. Suddenly, characters - or at least imitations of them - began falling out of the sky with Jenita. I recognized a few characters - was that freaking  _Invader Zim_ over there?! And Sailor Moon?! - that fell along with her; heck, one of them, a character that looked like a grinning skeleton in a blue hoodie, waved at her before tapping a bigger skeleton holding spaghetti, making the bigger one shriek. A gray skinned person with candy corn horns wearing something that looked like Aisley's shirt stuck her teal tongue out at Jenita as she fell before swimming away on the air, and finally, a purple dragon I recognized as Spyro swooped in below Jenita, rescuing her and placing her gently on the ground.

I could feel Wilson bristling, ready to call out bullshit, when suddenly all hell broke loose  _again_. Chess pieces were suddenly warring on both sides of Jenita and getting slaughtered as she pointedly walked in between all of them, trying to get herself stabbed, only to looked pissed when they all seemed to be avoiding her. The scene shifted, and suddenly Jenita was in a world made of cards, and they all toppled as she ran straight for a giant... baby doll? What?

The doll pointedly avoided her and fell into the abyss below the card bridge she had just run on, and Jenita snarled, fully pissed off now, just as the execution room seemed to shift again and she was in... a room of white. Everything was white; there were no corners, no edges, nothing. All was white.

Even the little turtle sitting in the middle of the room.

Jenita walked up to it, seemingly recognizing it, before sighing, sitting next to it.  _'Even if I step on you, you won't explode. She designed this goddamn execution. I'll be killed by my favorite Hetalia character, just GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!'_ Jenita's thoughts were so violent in tone that we all jumped, startled, just as Jenita mouthed the words, "... I like trains."

And suddenly everything went red.

Rosemary screamed bloody murder as Monocat cackled.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

**24/37 STUDENTS ALIVE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: NOBODY TOLD ME I WROTE BLUE EYES INSTEAD OF BLUE HAIR GDI


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